• 제목/요약/키워드: Sharing Information

Search Result 4,817, Processing Time 0.034 seconds

Electromagnetic Wave in all Base Stations (다기지국 환경에서 전자파 노출량)

  • Cho, Euy-Hyun;Park, Jeong-Kyu
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
    • /
    • v.11 no.9
    • /
    • pp.26-44
    • /
    • 2011
  • The Study was carreid out to see whether the intensity of electromagnetic waves in each floor of a building where the sharing base station has been established is harmful to a human body, and to expect the intensity of the waves in the building. The investigate was performed on both of sharing base station either with many scatterers or without any of them. To satisfy the international standard and the domestic TTA standard, rms for each of the electromagnetic wave of every floor in the building with the station was measured from 3 location of 3 heights(1.1m,1.5m, and 1.7m). Max of the measured rsm from the each of the frequencies in the nine location was confirmed to be 48.12%(the rooftop measured value) at most, compared to the human body protection standard. The value was confirmed to satisfy the human body protection standard for each frequency. And the total value of the calculated exposure indexes for each frequency was determined to be more than 7 times lower at most, which was 0.1445, compared to the 1 standard. Since P value in both of 868MHz and 2.14GHz electromagnetic waves intensity for each base station and floor was less than 0.05, it was revealed to be meaningful, and since R-Sq(adj) value showed a value more than 50%, the regression equation was determined to fully absorb the data information. However, although the P value of both of 868MHz and 2.14GHz electromagnetic waves intensities under the integrating terms of the base station data and the floor data was showed to be less than 0,05, since R-Sq(adj) value of 868MHz electromagnetic waves intensity presented a value smaller than 50%(34.15%), it was determined that the 868MHz electromagnetic waves intensity is very much influenced by an environment with a base station. Because the electromagnetic waves intensity of 2.14GHz show R-Sq(adj) value bigger then 50%(51.8%), The regression equation model of 2.14GHz electromagnetic waves intensity was confirmed to be proper. It also turned out not to be effected by the surrounding environment near a building with the base station and the intensity of electromagnetic waves for each floor of such building was expectable by the regression equation.

A study on the Chinese Animation Industry -Focused on Economic Development in the Animation Market in China- (중국 애니메이션 산업 발전 방향에 관한 연구 -중국 경제 개발 정책에 따른 애니메이션 시장변화를 중심으로-)

  • Kim, Dong-Ho
    • Cartoon and Animation Studies
    • /
    • s.48
    • /
    • pp.311-332
    • /
    • 2017
  • Currently, the world is making efforts to develop cultural industries around more refined parts of the world. The development of cultural industries has far-reaching implications for promoting national brands and national image promotion as well as economic benefits. In particular, China hopes to advance into its own animation market because it has an extensive animation market. In 2005 The Chinese government, however, banned foreign animation market from entering the Chinese animation market. However, at that time, Chinese animation firms also saw considerable economic losses because they had to undergo almost everything from animation to distribution to rationing. In fact, the policy was designed to protect Chinese animations, but instead of preventing Chinese animations from developing original contents, it caused various problems such as China's animations, or the development of Chinese animation industries. In this thesis, we will explore the policy related to animation industry in China, research and development of animation industry, and establish the direction of development of Chinese animation industry through suggestion of improvement in Chinese animation industry. For starters, we have diversified the contents of the Chinese animation industry by adapting the contents of the Chinese animation to the global market through the globalization of contents, stories and materials. Currently, animation is developing beyond 3D,4D and VR but there is no shortage of animation experts in China, so it is necessary to nurture specialized professionals by opening a related department in China. Also, the government will establish a National Animation Industry complex to work in various animation companies. We expect to develop cultural contents through mutual cooperation between animation companies in China and the sharing of information sharing and collaborative research.

A Study on Exchange and Cooperation between South and North Korea through UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity : Focusing on joint nomination to the Representative List (인류무형문화유산 남북 공동등재를 위한 교류협력방안 연구)

  • Song, Min-Sun
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
    • /
    • v.50 no.2
    • /
    • pp.94-115
    • /
    • 2017
  • 'Arirang folk song in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea' was inscribed to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014 and 'Tradition of kimchi-making in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea' followed in 2015. It is presumed that North Korea was influenced by the Republic of Korea inscribing 'Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Republic of Korea' to the list in 2012 as well as 'Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea' in 2013. These cases show the necessity (or possibility) of cultural exchanges between the two Koreas through UNESCO ICH lists. The purpose of this article is to explore the possibility of inter-Korean cultural integration. Therefore, I would like to review UNESCO's ICH policy and examine the ways of cooperation and joint nominations to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity between the two Koreas. First, I reviewed the amendments to the laws and regulations of the two Koreas and how the two countries applied the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Although the cultural exchange is a non-political field, given the situation between South and North Korea, it is influenced by politics. Therefore, we devised a stepwise development plan, divided into four phases: infrastructure development, cooperation and promotion, diversification, and policymaking and alternative development. First a target group will be needed. In this regard, joint nominations to the Representative List of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be suitable for cooperation. Both countries have already started separate nominations on shared ICH elements to the UNESCO lists. Therefore, I have selected a few elements as examples that can be considered for joint nominations. The selected items are makgeolli (traditional liquor), jang (traditional soybean sauce), gayangju (homebrewed liquor), gudeul (Korean floor heating system), and jasu (traditional embroidery). Cooperation should start with sharing information on ICH elements. A pilot project for joint nomination can be implemented and then a mid-term plan can be established for future implementation. When shared ICH elements are inscribed on UNESCO ICH lists, various activities can be considered as follow-ups, such as institution visits, performances, exhibitions, and joint monitoring of the intangible cultural heritage. Mutual cooperation of the two Koreas' intangible cultural heritage will be a unique example between the divided countries, so its value will be recognized as a symbol of cultural cooperation. In addition, it will be a foundation for cultural integration of the two Koreas, and it will show the value of their unique ICH to the world. At the same time, it will become a good example for joint nominations to the Representative List recommended by UNESCO.

Analysis of Social Trends for Electric Scooters Using Dynamic Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis (동적 토픽 모델링과 감성 분석을 활용한 전동킥보드에 대한 사회적 동향 분석)

  • Kyoungok, Kim;Yerang, Shin
    • KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
    • /
    • v.12 no.1
    • /
    • pp.19-30
    • /
    • 2023
  • An electric scooter(e-scooter), one popularized micro-mobility vehicle has shown rapidly increasing use in many cities. In South Korea, the use of e-scooters has greatly increased, as some companies have launched e-scooter sharing services in a few large cities, starting with Seoul in 2018. However, the use of e-scooters is still controversial because of issues such as parking and safety. Since the perception toward the means of transportation affects the mode choice, it is necessary to track the trends for electric scooters to make the use of e-scooters more active. Hence, this study aimed to analyze the trends related to e-scooters. For this purpose, we analyzed news articles related to e-scooters published from 2014 to 2020 using dynamic topic modeling to extract issues and sentiment analysis to investigate how the degree of positive and negative opinions in news articles had changed. As a result of topic modeling, it was possible to extract three different topics related to micro-mobility technologies, shared e-scooter services, and regulations for micro-mobility, and the proportion of the topic for regulations for micro-mobility increased as shared e-scooter services increased in recent years. In addition, the top positive words included quick, enjoyable, and easy, whereas the top negative words included threat, complaint, and ilegal, which implies that people satisfied with the convenience of e-scooter or e-scooter sharing services, but safety and parking issues should be addressed for micro-mobility services to become more active. In conclusion, this study was able to understand how issues and social trends related to e-scooters have changed, and to determine the issues that need to be addressed. Moreover, it is expected that the research framework using dynamic topic modeling and sentiment analysis will be helpful in determining social trends on various areas.

A Case Study of the Performance and Success Factors of ISMP(Information Systems Master Plan) (정보시스템 마스터플랜(ISMP) 수행 성과와 성공요인에 관한 사례연구)

  • Park, So-Hyun;Lee, Kuk-Hie;Gu, Bon-Jae;Kim, Min-Seog
    • Information Systems Review
    • /
    • v.14 no.1
    • /
    • pp.85-103
    • /
    • 2012
  • ISMP is a method of writing clearly the user requirements in the RFP(Request for Proposal) of the IS development projects. Unlike the conventional methods of RFP preparation that describe the user requirements of target systems in a rather superficial manner, ISMP systematically identifies the businesses needs and the status of information technology, analyzes in detail the user requirements, and defines in detail the specific functions of the target systems. By increasing the clarity of RFP, the scale and complexity of related businesses can be calculated accurately, many responding companies can prepare proposals clearly, and the level of fairness during the evaluation of many proposals can be improved, as well. Above all though, the problems that are posed as chronic challenges in this field, i.e., the misunderstanding and conflicts between the users and developers, excessive burden on developers, etc. can be resolved. This study is a case study that analyzes the execution process, execution accomplishment, problems, and the success factors of two pilot projects that introduced ISMP for the first time. ISMP performance procedures of actual site were verified, and how the user needs in the request for quote are described was examined. The satisfaction levels of ISMP RFP for quote were found to be high as compared to the conventional RFP. Although occurred were some problems such as RFP preparation difficulties, increased workload, etc. due to the lack of understanding and execution experience of ISMP, in overall, also occurred were some positive effects such as the establishment of the scope of target systems, improved information sharing and cooperation between the users and the developers, seamless communication between issuing customer corporations and IT service companies, reduction of changes in user requirements, etc. As a result of conducting action research type in-depth interviews on the persons in charge of actual work, factors were derived as ISMP success factors: prior consensus on the need for ISMP, the acquisition of execution resources resulting from the support of CEO and CIO, and the selection of specification level of the user requirements. The results of this study will provide useful site information to the corporations that are considering adopting ISMP and IT service firms, and present meaningful suggestions on the future study directions to researchers in the field of IT service competitive advantages.

  • PDF

The Adoption and Diffusion of Semantic Web Technology Innovation: Qualitative Research Approach (시맨틱 웹 기술혁신의 채택과 확산: 질적연구접근법)

  • Joo, Jae-Hun
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
    • /
    • v.19 no.1
    • /
    • pp.33-62
    • /
    • 2009
  • Internet computing is a disruptive IT innovation. Semantic Web can be considered as an IT innovation because the Semantic Web technology possesses the potential to reduce information overload and enable semantic integration, using capabilities such as semantics and machine-processability. How should organizations adopt the Semantic Web? What factors affect the adoption and diffusion of Semantic Web innovation? Most studies on adoption and diffusion of innovation use empirical analysis as a quantitative research methodology in the post-implementation stage. There is criticism that the positivist requiring theoretical rigor can sacrifice relevance to practice. Rapid advances in technology require studies relevant to practice. In particular, it is realistically impossible to conduct quantitative approach for factors affecting adoption of the Semantic Web because the Semantic Web is in its infancy. However, in an early stage of introduction of the Semantic Web, it is necessary to give a model and some guidelines and for adoption and diffusion of the technology innovation to practitioners and researchers. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present a model of adoption and diffusion of the Semantic Web and to offer propositions as guidelines for successful adoption through a qualitative research method including multiple case studies and in-depth interviews. The researcher conducted interviews with 15 people based on face-to face and 2 interviews by telephone and e-mail to collect data to saturate the categories. Nine interviews including 2 telephone interviews were from nine user organizations adopting the technology innovation and the others were from three supply organizations. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were recorded on digital voice recorder memory and subsequently transcribed verbatim. 196 pages of transcripts were obtained from about 12 hours interviews. Triangulation of evidence was achieved by examining each organization website and various documents, such as brochures and white papers. The researcher read the transcripts several times and underlined core words, phrases, or sentences. Then, data analysis used the procedure of open coding, in which the researcher forms initial categories of information about the phenomenon being studied by segmenting information. QSR NVivo version 8.0 was used to categorize sentences including similar concepts. 47 categories derived from interview data were grouped into 21 categories from which six factors were named. Five factors affecting adoption of the Semantic Web were identified. The first factor is demand pull including requirements for improving search and integration services of the existing systems and for creating new services. Second, environmental conduciveness, reference models, uncertainty, technology maturity, potential business value, government sponsorship programs, promising prospects for technology demand, complexity and trialability affect the adoption of the Semantic Web from the perspective of technology push. Third, absorptive capacity is an important role of the adoption. Fourth, suppler's competence includes communication with and training for users, and absorptive capacity of supply organization. Fifth, over-expectance which results in the gap between user's expectation level and perceived benefits has a negative impact on the adoption of the Semantic Web. Finally, the factor including critical mass of ontology, budget. visible effects is identified as a determinant affecting routinization and infusion. The researcher suggested a model of adoption and diffusion of the Semantic Web, representing relationships between six factors and adoption/diffusion as dependent variables. Six propositions are derived from the adoption/diffusion model to offer some guidelines to practitioners and a research model to further studies. Proposition 1 : Demand pull has an influence on the adoption of the Semantic Web. Proposition 1-1 : The stronger the degree of requirements for improving existing services, the more successfully the Semantic Web is adopted. Proposition 1-2 : The stronger the degree of requirements for new services, the more successfully the Semantic Web is adopted. Proposition 2 : Technology push has an influence on the adoption of the Semantic Web. Proposition 2-1 : From the perceptive of user organizations, the technology push forces such as environmental conduciveness, reference models, potential business value, and government sponsorship programs have a positive impact on the adoption of the Semantic Web while uncertainty and lower technology maturity have a negative impact on its adoption. Proposition 2-2 : From the perceptive of suppliers, the technology push forces such as environmental conduciveness, reference models, potential business value, government sponsorship programs, and promising prospects for technology demand have a positive impact on the adoption of the Semantic Web while uncertainty, lower technology maturity, complexity and lower trialability have a negative impact on its adoption. Proposition 3 : The absorptive capacities such as organizational formal support systems, officer's or manager's competency analyzing technology characteristics, their passion or willingness, and top management support are positively associated with successful adoption of the Semantic Web innovation from the perceptive of user organizations. Proposition 4 : Supplier's competence has a positive impact on the absorptive capacities of user organizations and technology push forces. Proposition 5 : The greater the gap of expectation between users and suppliers, the later the Semantic Web is adopted. Proposition 6 : The post-adoption activities such as budget allocation, reaching critical mass, and sharing ontology to offer sustainable services are positively associated with successful routinization and infusion of the Semantic Web innovation from the perceptive of user organizations.

Comparative Analysis of ViSCa Platform-based Mobile Payment Service with other Cases (스마트카드 가상화(ViSCa) 플랫폼 기반 모바일 결제 서비스 제안 및 타 사례와의 비교분석)

  • Lee, June-Yeop;Lee, Kyoung-Jun
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.20 no.2
    • /
    • pp.163-178
    • /
    • 2014
  • Following research proposes "Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa)" which is a security system that aims to provide a multi-device platform for the deployment of services that require a strong security protocol, both for the access & authentication and execution of its applications and focuses on analyzing Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) platform-based mobile payment service by comparing with other similar cases. At the present day, the appearance of new ICT, the diffusion of new user devices (such as smartphones, tablet PC, and so on) and the growth of internet penetration rate are creating many world-shaking services yet in the most of these applications' private information has to be shared, which means that security breaches and illegal access to that information are real threats that have to be solved. Also mobile payment service is, one of the innovative services, has same issues which are real threats for users because mobile payment service sometimes requires user identification, an authentication procedure and confidential data sharing. Thus, an extra layer of security is needed in their communication and execution protocols. The Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa), concept is a holistic approach and centralized management for a security system that pursues to provide a ubiquitous multi-device platform for the arrangement of mobile payment services that demand a powerful security protocol, both for the access & authentication and execution of its applications. In this sense, Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) offers full interoperability and full access from any user device without any loss of security. The concept prevents possible attacks by third parties, guaranteeing the confidentiality of personal data, bank accounts or private financial information. The Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) concept is split in two different phases: the execution of the user authentication protocol on the user device and the cloud architecture that executes the secure application. Thus, the secure service access is guaranteed at anytime, anywhere and through any device supporting previously required security mechanisms. The security level is improved by using virtualization technology in the cloud. This virtualization technology is used terminal virtualization to virtualize smart card hardware and thrive to manage virtualized smart cards as a whole, through mobile cloud technology in Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) platform-based mobile payment service. This entire process is referred to as Smart Card as a Service (SCaaS). Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) platform-based mobile payment service virtualizes smart card, which is used as payment mean, and loads it in to the mobile cloud. Authentication takes place through application and helps log on to mobile cloud and chooses one of virtualized smart card as a payment method. To decide the scope of the research, which is comparing Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) platform-based mobile payment service with other similar cases, we categorized the prior researches' mobile payment service groups into distinct feature and service type. Both groups store credit card's data in the mobile device and settle the payment process at the offline market. By the location where the electronic financial transaction information (data) is stored, the groups can be categorized into two main service types. First is "App Method" which loads the data in the server connected to the application. Second "Mobile Card Method" stores its data in the Integrated Circuit (IC) chip, which holds financial transaction data, which is inbuilt in the mobile device secure element (SE). Through prior researches on accept factors of mobile payment service and its market environment, we came up with six key factors of comparative analysis which are economic, generality, security, convenience(ease of use), applicability and efficiency. Within the chosen group, we compared and analyzed the selected cases and Virtualization of Smart Cards (ViSCa) platform-based mobile payment service.

Intents of Acquisitions in Information Technology Industrie (정보기술 산업에서의 인수 유형별 인수 의도 분석)

  • Cho, Wooje;Chang, Young Bong;Kwon, Youngok
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.22 no.4
    • /
    • pp.123-138
    • /
    • 2016
  • This study investigates intents of acquisitions in information technology industries. Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic decision at corporate-level and have been an important tool for a firm to grow. Plenty of firms in information technology industries have acquired startups to increase production efficiency, expand customer base, or improve quality over the last decades. For example, Google has made about 200 acquisitions since 2001, Cisco has acquired about 210 firms since 1993, Oracle has made about 125 acquisitions since 1994, and Microsoft has acquired about 200 firms since 1987. Although there have been many existing papers that theoretically study intents or motivations of acquisitions, there are limited papers that empirically investigate them mainly because it is challenging to measure and quantify intents of M&As. This study examines the intent of acquisitions by measuring specific intents for M&A transactions. Using our measures of acquisition intents, we compare the intents by four acquisition types: (1) the acquisition where a hardware firm acquires a hardware firm, (2) the acquisition where a hardware firm acquires a software/IT service firm, (3) the acquisition where a software/IT service firm acquires a hardware firm, and (4) the acquisition where a software /IT service firm acquires a software/IT service firm. We presume that there are difference in reasons why a hardware firm acquires another hardware firm, why a hardware firm acquires a software firm, why a software/IT service firm acquires a hardware firm, and why a software/IT service firm acquires another software/IT service firm. Using data of the M&As in US IT industries, we identified major intents of the M&As. The acquisition intents are identified based on the press release of M&A announcements and measured with four categories. First, an acquirer may have intents of cost saving in operations by sharing common resources between the acquirer and the target. The cost saving can accrue from economies of scope and scale. Second, an acquirer may have intents of product enhancement/development. Knowledge and skills transferred from the target may enable the acquirer to enhance the product quality or to expand product lines. Third, an acquirer may have intents of gain additional customer base to expand the market, to penetrate the market, or to enter a foreign market. Fourth, a firm may acquire a target with intents of expanding customer channels. By complementing existing channel to the customer, the firm can increase its revenue. Our results show that acquirers have had intents of cost saving more in acquisitions between hardware companies than in acquisitions between software companies. Hardware firms are more likely to acquire with intents of product enhancement or development than software firms. Overall, the intent of product enhancement/development is the most frequent intent in all of the four acquisition types, and the intent of customer base expansion is the second. We also analyze our data with the classification of production-side intents and customer-side intents, which is based on activities of the value chain of a firm. Intents of cost saving operations and those of product enhancement/development can be viewed as production-side intents and intents of customer base expansion and those of expanding customer channels can be viewed as customer-side intents. Our analysis shows that the ratio between the number of customer-side intents and that of production-side intents is higher in acquisitions where a software firm is an acquirer than in the acquisitions where a hardware firm is an acquirer. This study can contribute to IS literature. First, this study provides insights in understanding M&As in IT industries by answering for question of why an IT firm intends to another IT firm. Second, this study also provides distribution of acquisition intents for acquisition types.

An Exploration of MIS Quarterly Research Trends: Applying Topic Modeling and Keyword Network Analysis (MIS Quarterly 연구동향 탐색: 토픽모델링 및 키워드 네트워크 분석 활용)

  • Kang, Eunkyung;Jung, Yeonsik;Yang, Seonuk;Kwon, Jiyoon;Yang, Sung-Byung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.28 no.2
    • /
    • pp.207-235
    • /
    • 2022
  • In a knowledge-based society where knowledge and information industries are the main pillars of the economy, knowledge sharing and diffusion and its systematic management are recognized as essential strategies for improving national competitiveness and sustainable social development. In the field of Information Systems (IS) research, where the convergence of information technology and management takes place in various ways, the evolution of knowledge occurs only when researchers cooperate in turning old knowledge into new knowledge from the perspective of the scientific knowledge network. In particular, it is possible to derive new insights by identifying topics of interest in the relevant research field, applied methodologies, and research trends through network-based interdisciplinary graftings such as citations, co-authorships, and keywords. In previous studies, various attempts have been made to understand the structure of the knowledge system and the research trends of the relevant community by revealing the relationship between research topics, methodologies, and co-authors. However, most studies have compared two or more journals and been limited to a certain period; hence, there is a lack of research that looked at research trends covering the entire history of IS research. Therefore, this study was conducted in the following order for all the papers (from its first issue in 1977 to the first quarter of 2022) published in the MIS Quarterly (MISQ) Journal, which plays a leading role in revealing knowledge in the IS research field: (1) After extracting keywords, (2) classifying the extracted keywords into research topics, methodologies, and theories, and (3) using topic modeling and keyword network analysis in order to identify the changes from the beginning to the present of the IS research in a chronological manner. Through this study, it is expected that by examining the changes in IS research published in MISQ, the developing patterns of IS research can be revealed, and a new research direction can be presented to IS researchers, nurturing the sustainability of future research.

The Role of Social Capital and Identity in Knowledge Contribution in Virtual Communities: An Empirical Investigation (가상 커뮤니티에서 사회적 자본과 정체성이 지식기여에 미치는 역할: 실증적 분석)

  • Shin, Ho Kyoung;Kim, Kyung Kyu;Lee, Un-Kon
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
    • /
    • v.22 no.3
    • /
    • pp.53-74
    • /
    • 2012
  • A challenge in fostering virtual communities is the continuous supply of knowledge, namely members' willingness to contribute knowledge to their communities. Previous research argues that giving away knowledge eventually causes the possessors of that knowledge to lose their unique value to others, benefiting all except the contributor. Furthermore, communication within virtual communities involves a large number of participants with different social backgrounds and perspectives. The establishment of mutual understanding to comprehend conversations and foster knowledge contribution in virtual communities is inevitably more difficult than face-to-face communication in a small group. In spite of these arguments, evidence suggests that individuals in virtual communities do engage in social behaviors such as knowledge contribution. It is important to understand why individuals provide their valuable knowledge to other community members without a guarantee of returns. In virtual communities, knowledge is inherently rooted in individual members' experiences and expertise. This personal nature of knowledge requires social interactions between virtual community members for knowledge transfer. This study employs the social capital theory in order to account for interpersonal relationship factors and identity theory for individual and group factors that may affect knowledge contribution. First, social capital is the relationship capital which is embedded within the relationships among the participants in a network and available for use when it is needed. Social capital is a productive resource, facilitating individuals' actions for attainment. Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1997) identify three dimensions of social capital and explain theoretically how these dimensions affect the exchange of knowledge. Thus, social capital would be relevant to knowledge contribution in virtual communities. Second, existing research has addressed the importance of identity in facilitating knowledge contribution in a virtual context. Identity in virtual communities has been described as playing a vital role in the establishment of personal reputations and in the recognition of others. For instance, reputation systems that rate participants in terms of the quality of their contributions provide a readily available inventory of experts to knowledge seekers. Despite the growing interest in identities, however, there is little empirical research about how identities in the communities influence knowledge contribution. Therefore, the goal of this study is to better understand knowledge contribution by examining the roles of social capital and identity in virtual communities. Based on a theoretical framework of social capital and identity theory, we develop and test a theoretical model and evaluate our hypotheses. Specifically, we propose three variables such as cohesiveness, reciprocity, and commitment, referring to the social capital theory, as antecedents of knowledge contribution in virtual communities. We further posit that members with a strong identity (self-presentation and group identification) contribute more knowledge to virtual communities. We conducted a field study in order to validate our research model. We collected data from 192 members of virtual communities and used the PLS method to analyse the data. The tests of the measurement model confirm that our data set has appropriate discriminant and convergent validity. The results of testing the structural model show that cohesion, reciprocity, and self-presentation significantly influence knowledge contribution, while commitment and group identification do not significantly influence knowledge contribution. Our findings on cohesion and reciprocity are consistent with the previous literature. Contrary to our expectations, commitment did not significantly affect knowledge contribution in virtual communities. This result may be due to the fact that knowledge contribution was voluntary in the virtual communities in our sample. Another plausible explanation for this result may be the self-selection bias for the survey respondents, who are more likely to contribute their knowledge to virtual communities. The relationship between self-presentation and knowledge contribution was found to be significant in virtual communities, supporting the results of prior literature. Group identification did not significantly affect knowledge contribution in this study, inconsistent with the wealth of research that identifies group identification as an important factor for knowledge sharing. This conflicting result calls for future research that examines the role of group identification in knowledge contribution in virtual communities. This study makes a contribution to theory development in the area of knowledge management in general and virtual communities in particular. For practice, the results of this study identify the circumstances under which individual factors would be effective for motivating knowledge contribution to virtual communities.

  • PDF