Learning at Work: The Role of Technical Communication in Organizational Learning
Author: Wahl, Scott
Source: Technical Communication, Volume 50, Number 2, May 2003 , pp. 247-258(12)
Publisher: Society for Technical Communication
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Abstract:
This article analyzes how the technical support group in a mid-sized technology organization creates, disseminates, and uses technical and product knowledge, and the role of customer documentation in these activities. In particular, the article investigates the following questions: How does the technical support group learn and share the product knowledge it needs to perform its work?How does customer documentation fit into these learning processes and activities?What boundaries exist between technical support and customer documentation groups that hinder effective knowledge sharing, and how can these boundaries be overcome?Knowledge management and organizational learning theory provide a basis for analyzing how product knowledge is transferred between the research and development and technical support groups, with a central focus on customer documentation. Genre theory helps to define the customer documentation genre and the ways in which it operates within the organizations social system.Document Type: Research article
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