Computer Supported Cooperative Work (2007) 16:431–465 DOI 10.1007/s10606-007-9055-2

© Springer 2007

Expert Recommender: Designing for a Network Organization
Tim Reichling1, Michael Veith1 & Volker Wulf1,2
1 Institute for Information Systems and New Media University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany (E-mail: tim.reichling@uni-siegen.de; michael.veith@uni-siegen.de; volker.wulf@uni-siegen.de); 2 Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FhG-FIT), Sankt Agustin, Germany (E-mail: volker.wulf@fit.fraunhofer.de)

Abstract. Recent knowledge management initiatives focus on expertise sharing within formal organizational units and informal communities of practice. Expert recommender systems seem to be a promising tool in support of these initiatives. This paper presents experiences in designing an expert recommender system for a knowledge-intensive organization, namely the National Industry Association (NIA). Field study results provide a set of specific design requirements. Based on these requirements, we have designed an expert recommender system which is integrated into the specific software infrastructure of the organizational setting. The organizational setting is, as we will show, specific for historical, political, and economic reasons. These particularities influence the employees’ organizational and (inter-)personal needs within this setting. The paper connects empirical findings of a long-term case study with design experiences of an expertise recommender system. Key words: expertise sharing, expert recommender system, case study

1. Introduction Approaches to knowledge management (KM) have attracted both practitioners and scholars in the field of organizations and IT. The basic assumption underlying this trend is that knowledge creation and distribution will become core processes in a complex, fast-changing world. However, the focus of research in knowledge