The online community knowledge flows: distance and direction

ABSTRACT

Whilst the role of online communities (OCs) in knowledge exchange and generation has been widely discussed, limited research exists on the distance and direction of OC knowledge flows. In this paper, we examine this issue by taking the case of an industry-founded OC that rendered around the use of a specific Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) module used by public sector organisations. Through a grounded analysis approach, we extend literature on OCs by identifying user-generated practices that enable knowledge flows in the online space as well as by examining the travels of these knowledge flows, taking particular account of the distance they cover and the direction they take. Findings point to within, outwards and inwards travels of OC-related knowledge flows showing a widely spread OC knowledge impact. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

ACCEPTING EDITOR:

• Michael Myers

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:

• Michael Myers

KEYWORDS:

• Online community
• knowledge flows
• direction
• distance
• practices
• industry-founded OC
• vendor
• ERP public sector

Acknowledgments

We would like to show gratitude to the study participants and the community organisers for giving us the access to their forum and sharing their valuable views during the course of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.