Facebook and Knowledge Management

Facebook and Knowledge Management Until the advent of Facebook, no inventor of an Internet-based technology has ever been heralded on TIME Magazine as person of the year (Grossman 2010) until Mark Zuckerberg came up with an invention that ate the world (Grossman 2009). The importance of Facebook as a technological platform has been unparalleled precisely because it has transcended from being a mere digital platform to become a part of the social reality of people around the globe (Naughton 2010). In the Facebook Age, knowledge creation has become ubiquitous. People transmit and consume knowledge every second as they share information, thoughts, opinions, and multimedia (Richardson 2010). This innovation started out as a college tradition before becoming a social networking site (Grossman 2007). Facebooks launch occurred in 2004 in a Harvard dorm room and started out as a networking for undergraduate students (Fuglsang 2008, p. 13). Students get introduced to one another using photographs into a physical facebook patt erned after Hot or Not where students got to vote who looked hotter in compared photos (Schwartz 2003). From its origin as a networking tool, Zuckerberg developed it into a web-based service where members can post their profiles containing information such as birth dates, employment, interests, favourite books, favourite music, and others (Schonfeld, 2008). Moreover, the service enabled people to privately communicate with each other through messages or by posting a message on someones wall (Richardson 2010). During his interviews, Zuckerberg underscores the motivation behind Facebook: enhancing real connections (Grossman 2010). His theory revolves around the fact that people communicate most naturally and effectively with those they know friends, family, and associates. All Facebook did was to provide information to a set of applications through which people want to share information, photos or videos or events (Calrson 2010). Today, Facebook is a way of life for millions of peopl e, which as of January 2011 total 600 million users (Carlson 2011). Due to its phenomenal rise and usage, Facebook has become a significant product that has several implications for the practice of knowledge management. How Facebook has revolutionised collaboration for knowledge management One area where technology has become a crucial tool for knowledge management has been in collaboration. Among the fundamental goals of knowledge management is to improve organizational performance by enabling individuals to capture, share, and apply their collective knowledge to make optimal decisionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in real time (Smith and Farquhar 2000, p. 17). Knowledge management goes beyond technology facilitating information sharing and collaboration; it creates and sustains communities of practice, copes with culture and behavior of people, and creates trust and validated content (Payne 2007).The use of technology for collaboration has vastly changed from what it meant 10 years ago. The evolution could be divided into stages: Disks and file transfers via email. Before, collaboration referred to the process of transferring files one-by-one via email or passing around floppy disks. This proved time-consuming for people and difficult to retrieve information; labelling was either incomplete, out-of-date, or the contextual information was vague. The effect was that people took too much time browsing in order to retrieve data (Adler and Kwon 2002). Network drives. After file transfers came the more advanced collaboration tool by using network drives so that all folders can now be accessed by all through a local network. Yet, this system of collaboration posed problems: it was limited by memory and attention spans and personal connections. People still relied on others to determine where data can be retrieved. A linear relationship existed between the time required to manage data and the size or number of data being managed. Hence, managing data was still time-consuming and people found minimal incentives in dealing with data or information management. Web-based software solutions. The advent of the Internet made collaboration easier especially when Web-based collaboration software was developed by companies. A case in point is Microsoft SharePoint which offered features that allowed the smooth flow of information: alerts, document libraries, forms, surveys, discussion boards, personal profiles, categorizations, and functions such as pulling information from data sources on the Web (Payne 2007). Despite expanding access to resources and organizing data at the same time protecting information, what lacked was a critical element of the collaboration process: user participation. Social networking. Encouraging people to become active participants in the knowledge management process is a challenge. With the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, knowledge management has now considered the use of the social media approach to stimulate collaboration (Shih 2009). Facebook offers not merely a platform where people exchange information it also enhances satisfaction and emotional gratification because the engagement becomes personal and hence, more fun. Effective collaboration requires two primary elements: adoption (number of teams having access to the system) and engagement (number of people regularly using the system) (Alavi and Leidner 2001). Social media such as Facebook has revolutionised the way knowledge management among organisations has been defined. Current state of the art of Facebook: a review From a simple networking technology, Facebook has progressed and evolved in terms of interface and interaction for users, ability for knowledge creation, as well as potential threats to knowledge creation (Gawer 2009). Interface and interaction for users. Many interface changes have been made to address privacy issues and improve page management for Facebook users. Some of these changes were received positively and negatively. On the one hand, the new privacy features limited knowledge sharing and exchange while on the other hand, it also enhanced trust during the knowledge exchange. Some of the following listed here are the major interface changes in Facebook: May 2006 Networks are expanded to workplaces as well as colleges and high schools. September 2006 News Feed and Mini-Feed are added, aggregating profile changes of friends. New privacy settings are made available. Additionally, registration is expanded so anyone can join. May 2007 Facebook launches their Applications platform. July 2007 Facebook removes the profile field that allows users to list their courses. March 2008 New privacy controls are added (Lampe, Ellison and Steinfeld 2008). October 2010 Facebook changed user interface to accommodate its Groups feature. The Edit Notifications button was changed to Edit Settings and users have the option to opt out (Constine 2010) February 2011- Providing one-click link for various administrative tasks, removal of tabs for page improvement, a new masthead composing five images latest to be added (called Photostrip) (Ware 2011) Ubiquity in knowledge creation. What makes Facebook lead its rivals such as MySpace is its friendliness to third-party application developers. Facebook developed an application programming interface (API) which developers can now use and take advantage of in the context of social networking at Facebook. Developers can now utilize user social graphs and from there design applications which would enhance user interaction in a myriad of ways. Aside from user interaction, businesses stand to gain from API because advertising and financial transaction functionalities can also be integrated. However, the key element to the ubiquitous knowledge creation in Facebook is the news feed which has already been patented to Zuckerberg. Developers could now tap into the social graph of users and create applications of all types that would allow people to interact in new and interesting ways. Once a user posts information, status, media, or installs an application, a message kicks off and appears in the news feeds of all the users friends (Treadaway and Smith 2009, p. 186). For November 2007, more than 7,000 applications were developed using the Facebook Platform or roughly 100 every day (Rampell 2007). There were over 400,000 registered application developers (Ustinova 2008). Moreover, Facebook simplifies gathering and connecting information between images, videos, and text. Its structure allows individuals (nodes) to be connected to information from non-connected individuals; for instance, a user can view messages through the news feed made by unconnected contacts to the users friends. Moreover, groups are able to create knowledge based on interest such as social or political groups or a group of experts exchanging knowledge. Another interesting feature that enhances knowledge creation is Notes which allows individuals to create content on topics or concepts (Kirkpatrick 2010). People may respond through the comment facility which refines and develops information further. Som e of the numerous features which Facebook has that contribute to knowledge creation include: liking; comment; ratings; threaded conversations; feeds; automatic updates when specific things of interest happen; the ability to ask questions (survey); the ability to make requests; and the ability to pass word along about things that are happening (Hearn 2008, Gawer 2009). Factors that help or hinder KM when using Facebook. While Facebooks API platform has made knowledge creation and knowledge sharing easier, it has also raised questions of privacy. Some of the popular apps that Facebook has have become spam or in some cases, relayed identifying information without users consent (Acohido 2011). These are then transmitted to advertising companies and Internet tracking businesses (Steele and Fowler 2010). Privacy issues have affected nearly 10 million Facebook users; this issue is forecast by some tech experts to plague Facebook for years to come (Malbon 2011). The impact of Facebook of KMS Knowledge work. Facebook has facilitated the process in which users share their knowledge with a group of other users or an organisation (Hearn 2008, p. 74). The sharing of knowledge can be within a closed or open community. In the knowledge sharing process, users possess the knowledge they contribute (Van Grogh 1998, p. 151). This means that the identity of the users is known and associated with the contributions. Ideally, users have full control over the content with respect to granting and withdrawing access rights for sharing, grouping, and annotating contributions (Alavi and Leidner 2001) but loopholes in Facebook has led to significant privacy control issues (Van Grove 2010). Collaboration communication. Mass collaboration using digital technologies like Facebook is transforming all aspects of the knowledge society even more rapidly than envisioned (Howlett 2010, p. 21). These users can give hints, make suggestions how to solve the problem, or give concrete solution directions (Choi and Lee 2003). Private communication between the users through the collaborative problem-solving platform is not possible, thus all feedback, hints, answers, and solutions provided are visible to all users of the community (Golder and Huberman 2006). There are however features which allow for private communication. Management. Facebook has had several implications for management. First, there is the perceived loss of productivity because of excessive engagement with social networking sites. An article featured in The Economist stated that an IT company lost over 1.4 billion pounds (USD 2.3 billion) yearly due to overuse of social networks during working hours. The same article cited how banning Facebook from the workplace would improve productivity (Yammering away at the office 2011). However, Facebook has also revolutionised the recruitment process because it has made information transparent. In fact, almost half (47%) of executives in the U.S. reported that they browsed through the Facebook pages of potential candidates and from that information, made decisions pertaining recruitment (Anonymous no more 2010). Trust issues. Perhaps the biggest issue with Facebook in relation to knowledge management is trust (Schwartz 2011a). Privacy experts have repeatedly indicated that Facebook sent user information to its advertising through cookies (Van Grove 2010). Essentially, Facebook is said to have deanonymised the whole social networking process and only when the issue gained significant media mileage did Facebook act (Malbon 2010). The future of Facebook The future of Facebook with respect to KMS seems bright but if it is unable to resolve privacy issues, it may find itself out of the lead (Schwartz 2011b). Facebook may lead to fast and easy knowledge creation but the high participation of end users presents problems such as privacy issues and low productivity. The Facebook Platform allows the integration of different kinds of knowledge particularly the integration of applications and the constant creation of content (Gawer 2009, p. 134; Kirkpatrick 2010). Facebook, when properly managed, can provide knowledge management support for professional organisations as well as of non-professional organisations.

Brokeback Mountain: Wester or Romance Essay

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain displays all the traditional characteristics of a romantic tragedy or a Western film, but upon its release it failed to be labeled as such. It was instead placed in the â€Å"gay and lesbian† film category. While obviously there is no harm in being labeled a â€Å"gay† film, it does distract from the purpose of the film, which is to show the touching story of these two characters. The film is merely a tragic depiction of two people, both of whom happen to be men, who fall in love with each other. It is a romantic tragedy in that contains the genre’s strongest and most popular theme: forbidden love. Simultaneously, however, the film can be classified as a Western due to the two main characters’ stereotypical embodiment of the cowboy persona. Brokeback Mountain is also eligible to be placed in the romantic tragedy genre. Lee tries to advertise this as the film’s main characterization with his use of landscape, advertisement, and themes. Lee’s use of landscape plays a huge part in the film’s development and push for a romance label. Jack and Ennis are first introduced and begin their love affair on Brokeback Mountain, which is emphasized and featured extensively. The landscape is very grand and lush and demonstrates the nature of their relationship on the mountain: natural and open. One of the biggest problems in their relationship is that their love is not welcome in their close-minded society, but in this vast open land it there are no restrictions, literally or socially. The landscape illustrates a theme of freedom and vulnerability in its openness and provides color, as well as contrast to the other set designs which are built upon a dull, grayscale color palette. This emphasis illustrates to the audience why the characters constantly want to return to Brokeback. The way the film was advertised pushed for a romantic label as well, in addition to revealing a lot of the major plot points. Lee has said that he modeled the poster after James Cameron’s 1997 famous romantic tragedy, Titanic. This was because he wanted the film to be known as a romance, rather than a â€Å"gay† film. On the poster, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar are placed in similar positions as Rose and Jack; however, instead of being placed above a ship they are instead surrounded by Brokeback Mountain, which is in a sense their Titanic. Every romantic film has one main object that is either the center or the origin of their love. In Titanic, it was the ship of the same name, while in this film it is the mountain. The placement of the characters on the poster foretell their futures in the story; Jack Twist follows Jack Dawson’s tragic ending and Ennis follows Rose. This plot point giveaway was never given any attention because the main focus was on the relationship of the two men rather than the story. The reaction of the public was not solely responsible for the film’s characterization; traditional cinematic stereotypes played a role as well. At the time of the release, the romance genre was (and can be argued, still is) stereotypically based on a relationship between a man and a woman. In the early days of film, homosexuality might have been hinted at but never outwardly displayed. As time went on, the social climate began to change and it became more acceptable to deviate from the typical on-screen heterosexual relationships, but with caveats: gay characters rarely played more than peripheral or supporting roles, and were often depicted as stereotypical or flamboyant. Brokeback Mountain was able to show another form of a homosexual relationship, one that was â€Å"normal†, accurate, and believable. The film does develop a popular and well-used theme in romantic tragedies, forbidden love. Such a theme has been widely popular and used in many great classic romance novels and films, such as Romeo and Juliet and the aforementioned Titanic. There is something epic and incredibly romantic about forbidden love, because it demonstrates the fight for and the strength of love between any two characters. These characters show the most fight for their love, because they live in a time and society that their love is scrutinized and could never be shown. Ennis, at one point in the film, mentions that his father took him to see a body of a man that was tortured and brutally killed at a very young age. These actions were later replicated to Jack when he was killed for being a homosexual. When people think of Western films and characters, masculinity is immediately brought to mind. A Clint Eastwood-esque character is summoned: the rugged macho man. When Brokeback Mountain was first released, it was immediately overlooked as a Western because its two main characters were in love with each other, something that was considered un-masculine. However, in looking beyond their relationship for a moment, the characters do actually display characteristics of a true cowboy. Many scenes illustrate characteristics of theirs that indicate traditional â€Å"masculinity. † For example, one way of demonstrating their â€Å"cowboy† persona is their attire. Marit Allen, the costume designer, has stated that she emphasized the cowboy look because it was thought that the characters would otherwise be overlooked and not given their credit. They wear the classic cowboy hats to cowboy boots, and at times dressed head to toe in denim attire; these are costume pieces that are common throughout traditional Western films. Another example are plot points in the storyline that depict Jack and Ennis as average men doing masculine things. Ennis is the primary caregiver in his family; he is shown as a hard worker and in constant search of jobs to feed his family. When it comes time to protect his wife and daughters, he shows he is not someone to be taken lightly. In various scenes Ennis is shown getting into fights, one example being the Fourth of July scene where he threatens to fight nearby men making crude comments within earshot of his daughters. Ennis prevails and is shown victorious and dominant, and while the other men lay on the ground submissive, with Ennis towering over them. Meanwhile, Jack also struggles to work traditionally masculine jobs to support himself, partaking in the quintessential cowboy sport, rodeo. Even the two men’s flirtation is done through traditionally masculine behavior. They constantly roughhouse and often get into fights just before they act on their relationship, such as in their first sex scene. These features, among others, illustrate that the characters fit the true masculine cowboy persona and thus the film can be classified as a Western. Labeling the film as a gay and lesbian film restricts the films plot because it is not solely about being gay, it is just merely a topic. If the film was categorized under a western or romantic, which are both broad genres, then the audience can focus on a variety of situations that the film shows. The film is entirely eligible to be labeled both, because the film demonstrates the same characteristics seen in both genres. It is a romantic tragedy because it contains one of the most popular and widely used themes: forbidden love and it can also be classified as a western because the two characters and backdrop embody the classic western persona.

Human resource management Policies and Principle Essay

HRM policies and principles contribute to the effectiveness, continuity and stability of the organization.† Human resource is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization. Any successful organization does not owe its success solely to market realities and sustainable competitive advantages. Successful companies are those that consider their human resource as their most important asset.Human resource is thequalitative aspects, that actually make or break an organization. With this aspect in mind Human resource management becomes a top level priority issue for an organization. Human Resources Management (HRM) is the strategic management of the employees, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization. Assuming that the employees of an organization are individuals with own mental maps and perceptions, own goals and own personalities, own capabilities HRM holds that the organization should be able to employ both individual and group psychology in order to commit employees to the achievement of organizational goals. The main goals / responsibilities of HRM are: †¢ To retain low employee turnover rate by inspiring people to work for the company †¢ To attract new employees †¢ To contribute to employee development In order to achieve these responsibilities each organization after collecting information and incidents from past experience, employees and other companys define their policies and principle. HRM policies are the guidelines which consist of the terms and conditions of the organization which should be communicated to every employ and which serves as a guide in time of decision making.Each organizations makes its own policy depending on its objective and work environment. Policies are not a hard and fast rules, each organization make policies which are somewhat flexible and can be modified with the consent of majority in order to benefit the organization. Following are some of the policies adopted by any organization and its contribution to effectiveness, stability and continuity of the organization: 1.Policy of hiring people with due respect to factors like reservation, age, marital status, sex and the likes 2.Policy on terms and conditions of employment – compensation policy and methods, hours of work, overtime, promotion,transfer, lay-off, retirement and the likes 3.Policy with regard to medical assistance-sickness benefits and ESI and company medical benefits 4.Policy regarding training and development-need for,method of, and frequency of training and development 5.Policy regarding housing, transport,uniform and allowances 6.Policy regarding industrial relations-trade-union recognition, collective bargaining, grievances procedure, participative management, and communication with workers. Hrm principles Principles are universal truths generally applicable to all organizations. Principles guides managers to formulate policies, programmes,procedures and practices. Following are some principles which any organization follow and how they contribute to the effectiveness, continuity and stability of the organization:- 1.Principle of individual deveploments to offer full and equal opportunities to every employee to realize his/her full potential. 2.Principle of scientific selection to select the right person for the right job 3.Principle of free flow of communication to keep all channels of communication open and encourage upward, downward, horizontal,formal and informal communication 4.Principle of participation to associate employee representatives at every level of decision making 5.Principle of fair remuneration to pay fair and equitable wages and salaries commensurating with the jobs 6.Principle of incentives to recognize and reward good performances 7.Principle of dignity of labour to treat every job and every job holder with dignity and respect 8.Principle ofoflabour management co-operation- to promote cordial industrial relations 9.Principle ofof team-spirit to promote co-operation and team-spirit among employees 10.Principle of contribution to national prosperity to provide a higher purpose of work to all employees and to contribute to national prosperity.

The Dazan Short Story - 1256 Words

Trapped between what sounded like a bickering couple, Derek tried thinking over how to say this next part. He knew how to speak Drailian, but gender came off as a tricky subject with humans. He didn’t speak up about it because he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but he also didn’t want to hurt Roana either. Up this close, he saw a bit of facial hair sprouting down the woman’s neck. â€Å"Roana,† Derek asked, â€Å"do you want me to use girl pronouns or boy pronouns on you?† The two castle workers froze mid-walk. Roana’s smile wilted, her eyes screaming that the subject be changed. Nero, holding onto the hilt of his sword, looked over the railing for the priest to see if he’d heard what Derek had just asked. Roana pushed up her slipping†¦show more content†¦Derek didn’t get it. According to the King and Queen, marriages were celebrated as accomplishments. Coming back to life with Nero’s touch, Roana pushed her ponytail to her shoulder and asked, â€Å"What’re you looking for exactly?† â€Å"Let’s start with a map. That would have the least words on it. I can get a feel for the world that way.† Well, we have a map for every district in the Kingdom. Would you like to start off here?† Derek went to pick up a new atlas when he paused. â€Å"What did you say?† â€Å"This section is for the mountains, and this one is for freshwater lakes.† Touching his empty pants pocket, Derek looked out the window to the lush trees, the forest, and the strange mountains that, if he blurred his eyes, looked like a giant wall slashing across the countryside. Every district in the Kingdom. District. The District of something. The District of†¦ Next to the window hung a giant map half-covered in shadows. It drew out the entire world of Drail. The castle sat at the bottom and the Kavka Mountains dotted the top. Open spaces marked towns and farmlands, but other than them and the ocean, nothing else made up the small world. â€Å"Did the artist forget to draw the rest? Where does the ocean go?† Derek asked. â€Å"Go?† Roana asked. â€Å"Do you not know?† â€Å"Do I not know what?† â€Å"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I meant about God’s Barrier Do you know it?† Derek’s eye widened. No. Not the right word, but something close to it. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"God’s Barrier keeps us in