The conference paper presented an aspect of how social network could be organised and formed to support knowledge sharing within group of professionals. What I realized in my research, informal sharing or learning is important for organisations. Nevertheless, it can be an impact for organisations. Appropriate planning is the benefit of organisations' profit making. One of advantage of Communities of Practice (CoP) is enabled the development and dissemination of knowledge. It is because professionals can share their particular knowledge. The knowledge can reuse in professional (Resnick and Mejia, 2007, p.1714). CoP benefit organisations easy to access more valuable knowledge and practice them in organisations.
Other benefit is new professionals easy to absorb related knowledge and experience by CoP. It is because of they can access other's professionals' experience through professionals' sharing. Meanwhile, new professionals have mentor practice within professional group (Resnick and Mejia, 2007, p.1715). The benefit is a profitable advantage to organisations and professionals and shows the beneficial result of knowledge sharing. However, CoP needs efficient collaboration. I have experience on CoP at information professional's field. I have learnt lots of knowledge from experience professionals. They post their experience or articles on particular webpage and share with other professional. They exchange their knowledge on the webpages, such as they post their challenge of jobs to ask solution or advice. Social network tool is a powerful collaboration tools once it manages well.

Reference:

Resnick, M.L., Mejia, A. (2007). Communities of Practice: Knowledge Management for the Global Organization. Paper presented at the 2007 Industrial Engineering and Research Conference. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?index=11&did=1864150261&SrchMode=1&sid=12&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1302329578&clientId=22212

No one possesses all the knowledge. Therefore, we have to know how to share knowledge among members of organisations. Two main points are fully utilizing knowledge and avoid knowledge losing within organisations. The article demonstrated a successful story of knowledge sharing at Lockheed Martin. They built up and internal social network call Unity (Brogan, 2010). Unity helped employees share their experience and solution in the network. They can post their challenge of a project. Other employees can give suggestion once they have related knowledge or experience. Finally, employees transfer their knowledge within organisation. The process of knowledge sharing is not an easy task. Although we understand we have to share their knowledge because everyone's knowledge is limited; people still want to keep the knowledge rather than sharing out. It is because knowledge is an asset. People afraid they lose their merit once they share knowledge. Therefore, knowledge manager should promote that knowledge transfer is enhancing their working efficient and building up their knowledge intelligence in organisations instead of reduce their value. Lockheed Martin give me a view of they can promote this concept successfully to their employees. I think this is the main reason of their success. They can transfer the knowledge from experienced staffs to new staffs. Reference Brogan, B. (2010). Internal Collaboration, Communication & Knowledge-Sharing Works at Lockheed Martin - Make It Work for You. Retrieved from http://www.interactyx.com/blog/internal-collaboration-communication-knowledge-sharing-works-at-lockheed-martin-a-make-it-work-for-you

This is an interesting blog that debate e-mail is a powerful collaboration tool or not. I totally agree with Suarez (2006) that e-mail is a very powerful communication tool. We can receive every mail whether are junk mails or useful mails. Others could receive a mail within few minutes from someone who live at the other side of world. In addition, people receive wide range of information from e-mail. However, I am not completely agreed that we miss out the point of collaboration and knowledge management once we define e-mail is good enough collaboration tool. Suarez (2006) mentioned how people have managed e-mails. Although nine people read e-mails, only a person knows the content of e-mails, is able to trace out particular e-mails and uses e-mails. Thus e-mail is not powerful collaborations tool. My opinion is the argument misses the essential elements of knowledge sharing. It is human. No matter the knowledge sharing tools or other collaboration tools, they also require human's management. If no one sends mails in electronic format, e-mail would not be at society anymore. The nature of e-mail still is collaboration tools. Organisations should focus on human is well use e-mail system and the information that inside e-mail system. This is a human base procedure. Reference Suarez, L. (2006). Email: The Good Enough Collaboration Tool - Is It Really? Retrieved from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/elsua/email-the-good-enough-collaboration-tool-is-it-really-11473

Appropriate tools are prerequisite to the successful execution of a job. Organisations understand knowledge is important to business running. However, efficient method of applying knowledge in daily working procedure is necessary for organisations. Human, policy and collaboration tool are essential elements for implement knowledge sharing system. The article expressed collaboration tools is the 'wheel' of knowledge sharing. The article also gives me a message that I should choose collaboration tools carefully if I work as information management professional. The article evaluated several knowledge collaboration tools. Appropriate collaboration tools have been helping several organisations improve their performance whether public or private sectors (Hedgebeth, 2007). It proved collaboration tools is helpful for knowledge sharing. However, we should not avoid the importance of choosing collaboration tools. Hedgebeth evaluated four collaborations tools only in the research paper; nevertheless, there are lots of collaboration tools in the market. All vendors advertise their tools are the best. Therefore my opinion is the first step is understanding how to choose the tool rather than using the tool. Organisations should compare more than four tools. Moreover, organisations should aware add on module of each tools. Although organisations need to spend more money on purchasing add on services, but add on services may enhance the performance of sharing knowledge. Reference Hedgebeth, D. (2007). Making use of knowledge sharing technologies. VINE, 37(1), 49. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?index=0&did=1247959181&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1302856540&clientId=22212&cfc=1

The article emphasise knowledge is the asset of organisations. Although knowledge is virtual object, but its benefit for organisations cannot be avoidable. Knowledge benefits organisations enhance their profit making because it increases employees' productivity (Caruso, 2010). Therefore, we should consider how to share knowledge in efficient and low costly approaches. I agree with Caruso (2010) that informal learning experience is an important way of employees acquires their knowledge. Formal learning is not the majority part of knowledge sharing in organisations because of large human and financial resources consumption. On the other hand, informal learning is a helpful way. We could not ignore people share their knowledge among their daily conversation. Moreover, social networking tools such as blogs, wikis are helping informal knowledge sharing. Thus, organisations should think about how to well use these kinds of informal collaboration tools. In my opinion, well use collaboration tools not only ensure employees share their knowledge. In addition, we have to ensure knowledge is practicing and keeping in organisations. Difficult to keeping knowledge in an organisation is the main issue of informal sharing. It is because the knowledge exists and absorbs with an individual. Organisations lose the knowledge once the individual leave the organisations (Caruso, 2010). Besides that, once employees get the knowledge, how do organisations ensure employees apply the knowledge within organisations is the other issue. If employees have not use their knowledge, it does not have any benefit to organisations. Reference Caruso, S. (2010). Informal Workplace Learning and Knowledge Sharing. Retrieved from http://www.eadulteducation.org/adult-learning/informal-workplace-learning-and-knowledge-sharing/