The impact of rewards within communities of practice: a study of the SAP online global community

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of introducing rewards within a virtual community of practice: the software vendor SAP (Systems Applications and Products) online global community. The study of postings to the SAP community discussion forums shows that rewards have had a damaging effect on the exchange of knowledge and generalised trust among members within the community. The intrinsic motivation of members to share knowledge was undermined by rewards, with the consequence that the pursuit of rewards became the priority for many, over and above contributing valuable information to the community. Thus, the introduction of rewards devalued the concept of knowledge as a public good, voluntarily shared out of moral obligation and community interest. Instead, knowledge came to be seen as a private good to be shared out of economic self-interest. Following the introduction of rewards, the primary motivation of many members to participate within the community shifted from community interest and moral obligation to that of economic self-interest.

Keywords:

• communities of practice
• knowledge sharing
• case study
• knowledge management practice
• rewards

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Fahey

About the authors

Richard Fahey, B.A., M.Sc. is a consultant in the area of Business Intelligence for Capgemini, U.K. He has previously worked as an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. He has SAP accreditation in the area of Business Intelligence. He has carried out research in the field of information technologies and the virtual communities. His research interests are in information and knowledge management, virtual communities, communities of practice, organisational behaviour and social networking. He can be contacted at: The Rectory, Cashel road, Cahir, Co. Tipperary, Republic of Ireland. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Ana C Vasconcelos

Ana C Vasconcelos, B.A., P.G.Dip., Ph.D., is Lecturer in Corporate Information Management at the Department of Information Studies, the University of Sheffield. She has previously lectured at the School of Computing and Management Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University, and at the School of Information Management, Leeds Metropolitan University. Prior to that, she was a researcher at the National Institute Industrial Technology and Engineering (INETI) in Portugal. She has carried out research evaluation in the field of information technologies and the Information Society for the European Commission since 1992. Her research interests are in information and knowledge management and information systems adaptation, with a focus on community interaction, discourse and identity in a variety of contexts. She can be contacted at: Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K. E-mail: [email protected]

David Ellis

David Ellis is Professor in the Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, U.K. He was previously Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Information Studies from the University of Sheffield and a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Durham. He has served as a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Committee and in its Peer Review Panel for Library and Information Studies. He is currently a member of the RAE Peer Review Panel for Library and Information Studies. His research interests are in the areas of information and knowledge management, information systems and information-seeking behaviour. He can be contacted at: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3AS, U.K. E-mail: [email protected]