Know-CoM 195Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written(6) topic: à dies and molds à mold à plastic mold à plastic press mold
(7) time: à time of creation à August 10, 2004
(8) format: à .docThe metadata are collected automatically according to the actual working context
of the employee or semiautomatically applying, for example, wizards, to guide users
through a subset of metadata that cannot be derived automatically. Based on the
knowledge structure, specifications of the dimensions are suggested and the user only
has to approve or reject these suggestions. This multidimensional structure builds the
basis for joint understanding, which is necessary for cooperation with knowledge spaces
that are outlined in the following section.
Definition of Knowledge Spaces
Knowledge elements are stored in so-called knowledge spaces. Referring to the fact
that SMEs in the die- and mold-making industry on the one hand cooperate in certain
areas and on the other hand, compete in markets, we chose to trisect the knowledge
spaces on the particular company server in private, protected, and public ones (Maier
& Sametinger, 2003, p. 5) in order to reduce barriers for knowledge sharing and to protect
the company’s intellectual property:
- Private knowledge spaces: Every employee has a private knowledge space, which
contains knowledge elements that are only accessible to the employee. - Protected knowledge spaces: We distinguish two kinds of protected knowledge
spaces: (1) team or role-oriented protected and (2) private protected. The first kind
of knowledge space is used for sharing knowledge with a limited group of people
based on predefined roles. The group can be, for example, an organization-internal
or external defined role, group, or project team (e.g., designers, sales persons).
Additionally, the individual knowledge worker can apply for a protected knowl-
edge space, share knowledge independent of roles or teams, and grant as well as
revoke access rights as he/she pleases. - Public knowledge spaces: Every company server has one public knowledge space,
which includes contents that are accessible for every employee in the company as
well as for all members associated with Know-CoM.
In this environment, significant barriers of knowledge sharing can be reduced,
because participants or organizations can decide on their own who is allowed to use their
knowledge spaces and have in this way control over their intellectual property. Because
of limited user groups, it can be assumed that trust between cooperating employees is
higher than without such a limitation and thus sharing of explicit as well as implicit
knowledge (e.g., informal exchange of ideas or experiences) is fostered. Access rights
which work on the basis of user profiles and the knowledge structure can be adjusted,
if a cooperation (e.g., a project spanning enterprises) is dissolved or an employee leaves
the cooperation.
Every enterprise participating in Know-CoM has its own company server (Figure
3), which is trisected in different kinds of knowledge spaces. Dashed arrows show
connections between the company servers and the cooperative shared-knowledge
server, whereas solid arrows illustrate connections between several company servers.