Despite a growing awareness in the corporate environment that knowledge equals intellectual capital, corporations have struggled to find a beneficial way to effectively capture and commoditize corporate knowledge. The research addressed this problem of capturing and sharing corporate knowledge through the use of a new and little known communications tool called a Blog or Weblog. A Blog is a Web page that could be easily updated by an individual within a team. A Blog contains a chronological record of thoughts on a subject. In addressing the problem, this investigator used the case study method to examine the design, implementation, and evaluation of a corporate intranet Web site incorporating a Blog at DaimlerChrysler Component Operations for the design and manufacturing of specific steering column programs. This case study was based on the hypothesis: Small workgroups at distributed corporate locations who utilized a Blog achieved a greater level of collaborative communications and knowledge sharing activity in the completion of a task, thereby streamlining the complexities associated with KM implementation as compared to those workgroups who relied on written meeting minutes and telephone communications. The goal of this research was to provide a model for large manufacturing companies for deploying Blog technologies. Developed from the case study, the model described how Blog technology can be used to manage knowledge efficiently and provide a platform for effective collaborative communications in a manufacturing environment.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 2003 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Marlyn Kemper Littman (Supervisor), Sumitra Mukherjee (Advisor) & Junping Sun (Advisor) |
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