Mining group-based knowledge flows for sharing task knowledge

In an organization, knowledge is the most important resource in the creation of core competitive advantages. It is circulated and accumulated by knowledge flows (KFs) in the organization to support workers' task needs. Because workers accumulate knowledge of different domains, they may cooperate and participate in several task-based groups to satisfy their needs. In this paper, we propose algorithms that integrate information retrieval and data mining techniques to mine and construct group-based KFs (GKFs) for task-based groups. A GKF is expressed as a directed knowledge graph which represents the knowledge referencing behavior, or knowledge flow, of a group of workers with similar task needs. Task-related knowledge topics and their relationships (flows) can be identified from the knowledge graph so as to fulfill workers' task needs and promote knowledge sharing for collaboration of group members. Moreover, the frequent knowledge referencing path can be identified from the knowledge graph to indicate the frequent knowledge flow of the workers. To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methods, we implement a prototype of the GKF mining system. Our GKF mining methods can enhance organizational learning and facilitate knowledge management, sharing, and reuse in an environment where collaboration and teamwork are essential. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.