This book develops and examines the concepts and strategies for rural empowerment through the formation of a community-driven social knowledge management (SKM) framework aided by social technology. The framework is aimed at mobilizing knowledge resources to bridge the rural-urban knowledge divide while securing rural empowerment using digital connections and social collaborations built on strategies of self-sustenance and self-development. With key empirical findings supplemented by relevant theoretical structures, case studies, illustrative figures and a lucid style, the book combines social technologies and social development to derive a social knowledge management platform. It shows how the proposed SKM framework can enhance knowledge capabilities of rural actors by facilitating connection among rural-urban entities through formation of purposive virtual communities, which allow social agents to create, modify and share content collaboratively.
The volume brings forward diverse issues such as conceptual foundations; bridging the rural-urban knowledge and information divide; issues of information and knowledge asymmetry; a knowledge-theoretic perspective of rural empowerment; knowledge capability, freedom of choice and wellbeing, to provide a comprehensive outlook on building a knowledge society through digital empowerment.
This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, rural sociology, management studies, IT/IS, knowledge management and ICT for development, public policy, sociology, political economy and development economics. It will benefit professionals and policymakers, government and nongovernment bodies and international agencies involved with policy decisions related to application of technologies for rural development, social workers and those in the development sector.
Autorentext
Somprakash Bandyopadhyay is Professor, Management Information Systems Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, India. With a PhD in Computer Science, he has nearly 40 years of experience in teaching, research and technology development in several organizations of international repute. He was a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany and fellow of the Japan Trust International Foundation. He is the Founder-Director of Social Informatics Research Group at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
Sneha Bhattacharyya is Research Associate, Social Informatics Research Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, India. With an M.Phil. in Social Sciences, her interests are in applying social techniques to optimally disseminate internet-enabled technology for upliftment of marginalized communities.
Jayanta Basak is Senior Research Associate, Social Informatics Research Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, India. He has an M.Tech in Computer Science and works in the areas of design and development of Social Information Systems for social development. He is also the Co-Founder-Director of NexConnect, a social business venture based in Kolkata for social inclusion through digital inclusion.
Inhalt
Figures and Tables
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
1 Preamble
2 Organization of the book
PART I
Rural Empowerment: Bridging Rural-Urban Knowledge and Information Divide
Chapter 2: Knowledge, Knowledge Divide and Knowledge Capability: A Conceptual Framework
1 Introduction
2 Defining Knowledge
3 Knowledge: A Social Product
4 Knowledge Divide
5 Knowledge Capability
5.1 The Importance of Knowledge in Capability Theory
5.2 Dimensions of Knowledge Capability
6 Managing Knowledge Resource to Enhance Knowledge Capability
Chapter 3: Rural Empowerment: A Knowledge-Theoretic Approach
1 Introduction
2 Empowerment and its Manifestation in Rural Context
3 Agency, Opportunity Structure and Social Capital: Facilitating Empowerment
3.1 Empowerment and Agency
3.2 Empowerment and Opportunity Structure
3.3 Empowerment and Social Capital
4 Empowerment as a Knowledge-Theoretic Concept
4.1 Conceptualizing Rural Empowerment through Management of Knowledge
4.2 Facilitating Rural Empowerment through Management of Knowledge
5 Conclusion
Chapter 4: Contemporary Initiatives Undertaken for Rural Empowerment
1 Introduction
2 'Rurbanization': Promise and Practice
3 United Nations' Initiatives towards Rural Empowerment
4 Rural Empowerment: Some Measures taken in Developing Nations
4.1 Indonesia
4.2 Iran
4.3 India
4.4 Pakistan
5 Limitations of Current Institution-based Rural Empowerment Paradigms
6 Conclusion
Chapter 5: Information Asymmetry and Rural Producers
1 Introduction
2 The Need for Information and the Effect of Information Asymmetry
3 Information Asymmetry of Rural Producers in Developing Nations
3.1 Information Asymmetry between Producers themselves
3.2 Information Asymmetry between Producers and their Prospective Buyers
3.3 The Information Asymmetry between Rural Producers and Middlemen
3.4 The Information Asymmetry between Rural Producers and Government Agencies
4 Impact of Information Asymmetry on Market Efficiency: An Indian Case Study
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Observation
4.3 Impact of Information Asymmetry on Indian Rural Producers: Findings
5 Contemporary Measures Undertaken to Reduce Information Asymmetry
6 Conclusion
Chapter 6: Knowledge Asymmetry and its Mitigation through Enhancement of Knowledge Capability
1 Introduction
2 From Information Asymmetry to Knowledge Asymmetry
2.1 Information and Knowledge: A Comparative Analysis
2.2 From Information Asymmetry to Knowledge Asymmetry
3 Knowledge Capability: From Knowledge Possession to Knowledge Operation
4 Knowledge Capability of Rural Members in Mitigating Knowledge Asymmetry
4.1The Capability Approach: Building Capability Set of Target Group
4.2 A Knowledge-Centric Capability Approach for Mitigating Knowledge Asymmetry
5 Conclusion
PART II
Social Knowledge Management and Social Technologies: Conceptual Foundations
Chapter 7: Knowledge Management and its Evolution in Organizational Context
1 Introduction
2 How Society Used to Manage Knowledge: A Historical Perspective
3 Information Systems and Globalization: Impetus to Knowledge Management
4 Knowledge Management: Definitions
5 Knowledge Management: Processes and Strategies
5.1 Processes of Knowledge Management
5.2 Strategies of Knowledge Management in Organizational Context
6 Three Generations of Knowledge Management in Organizational Context
6.1 First Generation Knowledge Management
6.2 Second Generation Knowledge Management
6.3 Third Generation Knowledge Management
7 Conclusion
Chapter 8: Social Technology and Knowledge Management Practices
1 Introduction
2 Social Technology: A Conceptual Perspective
2.1 Defining Social Technology
2.2 Components of Social Technologies
3 Social Technology and Knowledge Management
3.1 Networking and Collaboration
3.2 The Social Technology and SECI Model based Knowledge Processes
3.3 Social Media Analytics and Customer Knowledge Management
3.4 Management of Crowd Knowledge for Organizational Benefits
3.5 Enterprise Social Software (ESS): Social Tools for Knowledge Management
4 Con…