Knowledge Creation by SMEs on Communities of Practice on Alibaba.com.cn

Abstract

Knowledge creation means gaining a substantial momentum due to its direct relation to the company’s core competency and competitive advantage. The current thesis investigated a new phenomenon, which is the knowledge creation through knowledge sharing and learning by SMEs in Communities of Practice on Business to Business marketplace, Alibaba.com.cn. The objective was to research whether intangible assets were created for producing competitive advantage. This thesis suggests a better way of sharing and learning knowledge for SMEs in China. The literature part discusses the relationship between competitive advantage characteristics and intangible assets, and explores the knowledge creation processes as well as the knowledge sharing and learning phenomenon on Communities of Practice in China. The research methods contain practical situation examination of knowledge sharing and learning on Communities of Practice on Alibaba.com.cn combined with theory; two round researches were conducted to characterize knowledge creations. The first round applied message board interviews and the second a multiple choice questionnaire aiming to further explore the interviewees by adding questions. Finally the hypotheses were judged. The results of the study proved that there is knowledge creation by knowledge sharing and learning for SMEs on Communities of Practice on Alibaba.com.cn, and knowledge creations mostly are intangible assets producing competitive advantage for SMEs. The results will guide a future direction for SMEs in China.