Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2010) 251262 c World Scientic Publishing Co. # . DOI: 10.

1142/S0219649210002656

Resistance and Motivation to Share Sustainable Development Knowledge by Web 2.0

Rita Yi Man Li
Department of Economics and Finance Hong Kong Shue Yan University 10 Wai Tsui Cresent, Braemar Hill Road Northpoint, Hong Kong ymli@hksyu.edu

Don Henry Ah Pak

Business, Economics and Management Department Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 111 Ren'ai Road Dushu Lake Higher Education Town Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, China donald.pak@xjtlu.edu Abstract. The concept of sustainable development development which meets the needs of the present generation without depriving the needs of the future generation has been in the lips of many political leaders, educators, NGOs and green groups. Living in the age of knowledge explosion, we want to receive the most updated information and knowledge. The Web 2.0 revolution provides the best solution to all those hungry knowledge seekers. This paper sheds light on the major resistance and motivations on sustainable knowledge sharing.
Keywords : Sustainable development; motivation; knowledge sharing; Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 tolls stimulate the reection and construction of knowledge (McLean et al., 2007). In view of global warming, many people from all over the world are nding ways to achieve sustainable development. Rapid knowledge sharing between individuals by Web 2.0 has also become more and more important. This paper aims at nding out the major Web 2.0 tools in knowledge sharing, their merits, shortcomings, resistances and motivations on knowledge sharing by Web 2.0.

2. Sustainable Development 1. Introduction

Global warming has drawn the attention of politicians, educators and conservancy groups in the world. The concept of `sustainable development' is getting more and more important. There has never been doubt that the birth of the internet has empowered sustainable development knowledge seekers and holders to take more control of our lives (Fraser and Dutta, 2009). The rising tide of internet usage stimulates web designers to develop better online resources (Myhill et al., 2009). The Web 2.0 revolution represents an eruption of conventional forms of social organisation, and symbolised that we are entering an era of self-awareness and self-reliance liberation (Fraser and Dutta, 2009). Overturning the conventional tools of publishing, control of content in our World Wide Web no longer lies in the hands of professional web owners but all the internet users online (Tredinnick, 2006). Under the Web 2.0 umbrella, namely, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Wikis and blogs, etc. (Barsky, 2006), the notion of `any time, any place' in
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The concept of sustainable development rst received attention in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The term was not referred to explicitly. Nevertheless, the international community agreed to the notion that both development and the environment could be managed in a mutually benecial way. The same issue was addressed later on in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The most widely cited denition of sustainable development, however, appeared in the United Nation's Brundtland Commission in 1987 (Li, 2009b). Discussions among participants from various sectors, such as divergent economic theorists (e.g., EF Schumaker of Britain), environmentalists (e.g., Barry Commoner and Lester R Brown), population analysts (e.g., Paul Ehrlich), politicians (e.g., Willy Brandt) and a number of environmental organisations from all over the world, identied a number of `common challenges' facing the earth, namely, population

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and human resources, food security, species and ecosystems, energy, industrial development, and urbanisation. The Commission had outlined a series of `strategic imperatives,' or `critical objectives,' inherent in their concept of sustainable development which included: (1) Reviving growth; (2) Changing the quality of growth; (3) Meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation; (4) Ensuring a sustainable level of population; (5) Conserving and enhancing the resource base; (6) Reorienting technology and managing risk; and (7) Merging environment and economics in decision making (United Nations, 2005). In the process of identifying these challenges and proposing potential policy directions, the Commission presented and dened a key term, sustainable development. \Sustainable development requires meeting the major needs of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life." And \living standards that go beyond the basic minimum are sustainable only if consumption standards everywhere have regard for longterm sustainability" (United Nations, 2005). Such concept, however, is dicult to be achieved in reality. Human activity is having severe and negative impacts on the planet, and that patterns of growth and development would be unsustainable if they continued unchecked (Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962), Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons (1968), the Blueprint for Survival by the Ecologist magazine (1972), and the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth report (1972)). Thus, sustainable development envelops two major ideas which appear to be contradictory: economic development and the consumption of the world's natural resources in a sustainable way. Resources are nite; part of our job is to preserve the human future on this planet into a limitless future. Nevertheless, \the enforcement of common interest often suers because areas of political jurisdiction and areas of impact do not coincide" (United Nations, 2005). In addition, with an inequitable distribution in resource
Table 1.

consumption observed, there are usually winners and losers. `Losers' in environmental/development conicts include those who suer more than their fair share of the health, property, and ecosystem damage costs of pollution. Such inequitable distribution has increased global concern \as a system approaches ecological limits, inequalities sharpen," and \hence, our inability to promote the common interest in sustainable development is often a product of the relative neglect of economic and social justice within and amongst nations." In other words, the winners in the battle who consume earth's many commons create a dilemma for those who recognise the need for sustainable use: eorts have to be spent on preserving the commons' various assets, with increases in both economic and social injustice \within and amongst nations" (United Nations, 2005). In spite of all these difculties, world leaders from all over the world are implementing new policies to achieve the goal of sustainable development (Table 1). Rapid knowledge sharing by Web 2.0 across dierent continents in dierent time zones has become important in light of this issue.

3. Knowledge, Knowledge Sharing and Transfer

Knowledge refers to a mixture of values within social context (Lin and Lee, 2004), the construction of new experiences based on past experience elaboration in memory (Waitt and Head, 2002). Lin and Lee (2004) classify knowledge into explicit and tacit. Tacit knowledge is generally obtained by copying and explicit knowledge is acquired through codifying rules and guidelines (Lin and Lee, 2004). Knowledge value increases when people share. When one shares his knowledge, not only would those who receive it gain information, the feedback questions add value to the original knowledge sharer which, in turn, creates exponential total growth in knowledge (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2002). To realise the knowledge sharing process, there must be a knowledge owner and receiver. Nevertheless, it does not require the knowledge owner to be known that he or she is sharing knowledge. The

Building policies in dierent parts of the world (Council for Sustainable Development, 2009). City Sustainable development policies Mandatory requirements on maximum length of closely packed building to prevent `wall eect' and mitigate `heat island eect.' Buildings with height less than or equal to 24 metres and with the length of building faade of 80 metres or more have to be separated by a minimum of six metres. It is mandatory to provide at least 20% of its rooftop green if the building sits on a site larger than 0.1ha. New public buildings have to plant at least one tree on the site for approximate 1,000 square metres. Floor area of sky terrace is exempted from GFA calculation.

Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou Shanghai Tokyo New York Singapore

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knowledge receiver can receive the knowledge by observing the act of knowledge owner (Li and Poon, 2009). Usually, they share knowledge because part of their backgrounds overlap (Soneryd, 2004). Knowledge transfer involves knowledge moving between one alliance or multiple alliances partners (Inkpen and Tsang, 2005). Knowledge transfer can also be dened as the process where several units are aected by another unit. Knowledge transfer can be classied into inter and intra-organisational. Interorganisational knowledge transfer refers to the transfer of knowledge between organisations while the latter one refers to the knowledge transfer which occurs between dierent departments in the same organisation (Wilkesmann et al., 2009). In addition, previous research has shown the dierences between knowledge sharing from knowledge holder and knowledge obtaining. For example, people with longer tenure will be willing to share more knowledge. Nevertheless, knowledge obtaining is negatively correlated with tenure (Wilkesmann et al., 2009). To realise eective knowledge sharing, `people' and `technology' are the necessary elements (Li and Poon, 2009). Traditionally, this can only be done by face-to-face synchronous communication only (Tredinnick, 2006). Technological breakthrough on the web not only makes asynchronously knowledge sharing possible, but also oers faster ways to share knowledge across the board (Li and Poon, 2009).

suggests that the Web 2.0 tools have to demonstrate some, or at least some, of the following characteristics: (1) online users are co-authors of the websites, (2) data sources get richer when there are more people use them, (3) software used beyond the level of single device, (4) cost-eective scalability services are used instead of packaged software (Myhill et al., 2009). The kind of trust built between website owners and other internet users creates a new pool of knowledge (Tredinnick, 2006), while authority decentralisation provides freedom to share and re-use web content. While some people are concerned about the information provided by the Web, Lee and Kim (2005) have provided a criteria on the determination of web quality (Table 2).

4.1. Blog
Blogs rst appeared in 80s, and it is one of the Web 2.0 tools with the longest history (Tredinnick, 2006). Blogs make rapid production and consumption of publications possible (Maness, 2006). Blog software usually contain built-in templates, and writers do not need to have any knowledge on Hypertext Markup Language to create their own web pages. They do not need to type <font color = \blue"> in order to make a blue front page, <tile> ABC </title> for their webpage title, <p> to make a new paragraph, etc. Finally, they also save time applying for a free space in GeoCities, etc. The original usage of blogs mainly lies in writing a diary. Online writers can not only share their views on the internet but also subscribe and comment on others' thoughts. Because of such interactive features, it has gradually become a good channel for rapid academic publishing, where lecturers and professors write blogs to share their knowledge to students and people of similar research interests. Blog writers can also provide a prole or

4. Web 2.0
The term `Web 2.0' has been widely used (Tredinnick, 2006) every since O'Reilly coined the term in 2004 (Myhill et al., 2009). Although Web 2.0 is not a new concept (Myhill et al., 2009), limited or even no paper has been written on Web 2.0 regarding sustainable development. O'Reilly (2005)

Table 2. Criteria for determination of web quality (Lee and Kim, 2005). Dimensions Ease of use Usefulness Denition \The degree to which a user believes that using the Internet would be free of eort." \The degree to which a user believes that using the Internet would be better than using other competing ways." \The degree to which a user believes that contents of the websites are reliable." \The degree to which a user believes that using the Internet would be safe when processing sensitive personal information." \The degree to which a user believes that the promised service would be performed accurately and in a timely manner." \The degree to which a user believes that the individualised attention to user concerns and requests would be provided." Source/ Reference Donthu (2001), Jeong and Lambert (2001), Madu and Madu (2002) Jeong and Lambert (2001)

Information content Security

Jeong and Lambert (2001), Kaynama and Black (2002) Kaynama and Black (2000), Madu and Madu (2002)

Responsiveness

Kaynama and Black (2000), Madu and Madu (2002)

Personalisation

Kaynama and Black (2000), Madu and Madu (2002)

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biography which shows the users' interests, etc. By making use of this, bloggers can easily locate people with similar interests. All these factors lead to a fast growing population of blog writers (Barsky, 2006). The most obvious shortcoming of the blogs, however, lies in the lack of editorial governance and security (Maness, 2006). Many people who are interested in sustainable development have started to write their blogs on the internet. Some vivid examples can be found in the Blog Top List (http://www.blogtoplist.com/ rss/sustainable-development.html), and the Sustainable Development Blog (http://sustainable-developmentforecast.com/blog).

can perform `persistent search' through cyberspace to send an alert when new information of an interesting topic is published (McLean et al., 2007). In view of its rapid information sharing, RSS is highly useful in updating researchers on research funding opportunities, e.g., the UK Research Funding Councils (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk) has used this as one of their major knowledge sharing methods (Myhill et al., 2009). Many journals in the eld of sustainable development have also provided the section of RSS in their websites, e.g., Sustainable Development (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.eproxy1.lib.hku.hk/ journal/5346/home/custom copy.htm).

4.2. Wiki
Similar to blog, Wiki is a simplied means of collaborative publishing. It does, however, put more emphasis on users' participation (Tredinnick, 2006). Anyone registered with the wiki server can publish, amend and change the content of the web pages (Maness, 2006; Tredinnick, 2006). Because any online users can edit or write their own content, Wiki is susceptible to `virtual vandalism' where a membership system does not exist (Myhill et al., 2009). Some web owners provide free and handy wiki websites, e.g., wetpaint (www.wetpaint.com) (Myhill et al., 2009). Similar to blogs, the problem of their reliability as traditional resources has become one of many issues in the credibility of knowledge (Maness, 2006). Essentially, Wiki provides an excellent platform for social interaction among online users, moving the study group room online. As users share information, ask and answer questions, a record of valuable knowledge provided by these members is archived. Whereas blogs provide a brand new alternative route of publication, wikis are virtual study rooms online (Maness, 2006). The success of Wikipedia (http:// www.wikipedia.org) is a good illustration on how Wiki benets in stable and credible knowledge sharing and management (Tredinnick, 2006). Interest groups on sustainable development have set up their own wiki pages to ease the process of knowledge sharing, e.g., Sustainable Community Action in Bristol has set up their wikis on http://sca21.wikia.com/wiki/Bristol.

4.4. Podcast and vodcast

Podcasting and its visual equivalent, vodcasting, allow audio and video downloads from websites to MP3 and MP4 players (including iPods). Yahoo has a specic podcast search engine (http://podcasts.yahoo.com). Academically, Podcasting has been used in university curricula for chapters from textbooks and student lectures. Some professors in universities have also realised the benets brought by Podcasting and have podcast their ideas, thoughts and knowledge on the web, e.g., Blogtalkradio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/sustainabledevelopment), and Green Cities (http://greencitiesmedia. com/gc-podcasts).

4.5. Folksonomy
Folksonomy generally refers to collaborative categorisation of content by assigning \tags" to specic items (McLean et al., 2007). Social bookmarking sites, e.g., CiteULike (http://www.citeulike.org) and Connotea (http://www. connotea.org) facilitate the sharing of academic papers between online users with common interests (McLean et al., 2007). Tagging eases the process of lateral searching (Maness, 2006). Tagging allows users to add and change the data in the web. People use tags for many purposes, for example, tag pictures in Flickr, and books in Library 2.0 (Maness, 2006).

4.6. Online social networking 4.3. Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

RSS is an eective and ecient means of spreading news (Myhill et al., 2009) syndicating and republishing web content (Maness, 2006). RSS consists of Extensible Markup Language marked-up les. Whether it is the lead paragraph, or a summary of an article published on the web, a hyperlink links all these information and content back to the original source (Tredinnick, 2006). With an increase in the number of journals with RSS feeds, readers People often hold views that online social networking is merely a social communication method. In fact, it is something more than that (Fraser and Dutta, 2009). Social online networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter embrace many of the aforementioned technologies (see Table 3). If used appropriately and sensibly, it can enhance our society's knowledge sharing and creations. Online social networks provide excellent channels in amassing individual pieces of knowledge. Members share

Sustainable Development Knowledge by Web 2.0 Table 3. Web 2.0 tools. Social network Communities Be2camp My 2 Collab NetResearch X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Twitter MySpace LinkedIn

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Facebook

Blog X Bookmark Journal articles Chatroom Instant messenger X Create user Group Meet ppl u don't know? X Email X Forum X Files upload Free X Prole of X users Tag RSS Vodcast Wiki Grant information Website http://be2camp. ning.com/

X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X

X X

X X X

X X

http://www.connotea. org/wiki

http://www. linkedin.com

http://www. facebook.com

their knowledge by means of forums, instant chatting messenger, uploading services, blogging, etc. By asking and answering questions, members within the group have more choices on problem solving. They can also meet new faces with similar interests in dierent parts of the globe (Li and Poon, 2009), one very good example is Facebook (http:// www.facebook.com) applications. Other social networks such as LibraryThing allow users to catalogue their books and share those books with others and recommend books to one another or even communicate asynchronously. Web 2.0 services are characterised by the fact that their value increases when more people use it. While traditional static websites do not improve when visited by large amounts of surfers, Web 2.0 sites provide knowledge of the visitors implicitly (participants' activities on the website are adapted as part of the web content) or explicitly (visitors' contributions help build up the website) (Ullrich et al., 2008). Having a glimpse of Web 2.0 from Yahoo Answers can give you a sense of its power: individuals can post their own questions and the sea of \academics" can give you an answer within a short period of time. No wonder Yahoo Research concur that collective knowledge such as Yahoo Answers will become the next generation of knowledge search (Adamic et al., 2008). While knowledge and understanding is constructed by the learner, they can be obtained by everyday life interaction and conversation (Ebner et al., 2007). Previous

experiments have shown that Web 2.0 services stimulate active participation (Ullrich et al., 2008) and learning that takes place in collaboration can provide opportunities to solve realistic and meaningful problems (Ullrich et al., 2008). This could be a big advantage of Web 2.0 tools (Ebner et al., 2007). Apart from that, as Web 2.0 users can voice their opinion on previous users' postings and trace back all the messages, they can also develop a habit of information verifying and knowledge locating (Byrne, 2009). Nevertheless, many projects showed a lack of successful interaction between the learners and an increasing learning outcome. This implies that the necessity of facilitators who can engage learners into meaningful interaction (Ebner et al., 2007). In addition, unconstrained active participation in Web 2.0 results in distraction (Ullrich et al., 2008).

5. Resistance to Use Web 2.0 in Knowledge Sharing

Although there are more and more people who know how to use computers in the present age, the pool of users who utilise Web 2.0 for sustainable development knowledge sharing is still limited. Face-to-face or non-sustainable paper work knowledge sharing methods are far more common than e-methods, not to mention Web 2.0. It is undeniable that human beings resist change (Li and Poon, 2009) and this is especially true in times of uncertainty.

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R. Y. M. Li and D. H. A. Pak Three \Wh" question in reducing resistance to change. \Wh" question Resistance will be less if
1. The project belongs to them and is supported by top managerial people. 1. 2. 3. 4. The The The The project is in line with participants' values and ideals. program oers a new interesting experience. participants' self-governance and security are not in jeopardy. participants foresee that the change will not bring extra work.

Table 4.

Who brings changes? What kind of change?

How are the changes bought about?

1. Participants are given the chance to join in the diagnostic problem solving process during change which increases their sense of importance. 2. The project is the result of a decision made by the participants. 3. Advocators of change are able to understand the opponent group of participants. 4. Feedback system is allowed for participants to clarify their misunderstanding and misinterpretations on the changes. 5. The change can boost acceptance and condence between participants. 6. Discussion and education are given during the process of change. 7. Real participation is based on respect, not just the mechanical act of being called in to take part in discussions nor asked by a series of careful designed questions.

(Lawrence, 1968; Li and Poon, 2007; Price and Chahal, 2006; Watson, 1971).

Kubler-Ross's response cycle displays the ve stages of change which includes `denial,' `anger,' `bargaining,' `depression' and `acceptance.' The response cycle clearly indicates the traumatic and stressful emotions during a period of disruption. Some individuals may display some or all of the characteristics during a period of change (Price and Chahal, 2006). Similar to Price and Chahal (2006), Watson (1971) concurs that the road to revolutionary change involves a couple of stages. When the `change' movement begins to grow, voices of pros and cons become noticeable. During the early state of change, massive and undierentiated resistances against the change appear despite the very few pioneer thinkers who take the reform seriously. When everyone knows better, crackpots and visionaries proponents support the change. Direct conict then mark the third stage, and resistance might crush the upstart proposal. It is usual to observe enthusiastic supporters of a new idea underestimate the strength of their opponents. This third stage is a decisive battle for any proposal of change for it often means the life or death of the proposal. The fourth stage nds a shift in power from the camps of opponents to supporters. In the fth stage, the old adversary groups become minorities and are as few as those advocators of the change in the rst stage of change. Any resistance forces that persists are only seen as stubborn nuisances (Watson, 1971). In terms of readiness to accept change, it varies from person to person. Previous research has indicated that cosmopolitan individuals or people at a younger age are more open-minded to change. Learning theorists are of the view that unless the situation changes greatly, people continue according to their customary ways (Watson, 1971). Others suggest that education and discussion are

necessary to persuade people to follow the change (Li and Poon, 2009). A much more detailed resolution on resistance to change is identied in Table 4. Apart from the aforementioned issues, the landscape of the World Wide Web relies heavily on private user information disclosure. The growing record of personal data collected by service providers poses a signicant privacy threat for Internet users (Kolter et al., 2010). In this regard, skeptics also highlight the possible threat in personal privacy when someone uses Web 2.0. This concern also leads to resistance in sharing sustainable development knowledge. While some people suggest that harsh regulations may be waiting in the wings (Short, 2009), others concur that users should be aware and be educated on the safeguards and policies. Users must be trained to understand the security feature (including the privacy policy), which these websites provide, and ensure that they are used.

6. Motivations to Share Knowledge by Web 2.0

Despite all the convenience and advantages provided by Web 2.0, it is often not easy to motivate knowledge owners to share their own knowledge due to various reasons (Li and Poon, 2009). Similarly, not many people share their knowledge by this method. Referring to the processes which direct people's behaviour toward a particular objective (Cesare and Sadri, 2003), motivation aects people's performance on knowledge sharing. Erez and Isen (2002) state that, P f (A, M) where A is ability and M is motivation. Psycho-biologically speaking, positive or negative perceptions alter people's response and behaviour (Moody and Pesut, 2006).

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6.1. Theory X and Y

McGregor is well-known for his Theory X and Theory Y dichotomy describing people's behaviours. McGregor's descriptions bear striking resemblance to Hobbes and Rousseau's understandings on human beings (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004). Under Theory X, McGregor concedes that people are inherently lazy (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004), cannot be self-motivated, and must be controlled by external forces to ensure that they work towards organisational goals (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004), e.g., disciplinary actions (Li and Poon, 2007) and outside incentives (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004). Hobbes stated that the self-serving and oppositional nature of human behaviour demands the Leviathan in order to maintain control and prevent anarchy (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004). Others argue that penalties are ineective because of possible delays or its mildness in nature (Li and Poon, 2007). Following the X theory, the major motivation in using Web 2.0 for sustainable development knowledge sharing comes from the `penalty' of information and knowledge delay. Close to Rousseau's view of self direction (Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004), theorists Y believe that men are responsible (Li and Poon, 2009), can be trusted and self motivated (Cooper and Phillips, 1997; Lawson and Wooliscroft, 2004; Morden, 1995). Work is as natural as rest. Punishments are not the only ways to achieve any objectives (Li, 2009a; Li and Poon, 2007; Stroh, 2005). As humans enjoy being treated as valuable members in our society, a climate of trust is essential in stimulating knowledge sharing behaviour (Dulaimi, 2007) which is also true in the world of Web 2.0. Skeptics, however, usually challenge Theories X and Y, represent two extreme cases which cannot truly reect our real world. It is often suggested that a combination of the two will oer better solutions (Li, 2009a; Li and Poon, 2007).

Wilkesmann et al., 2009). Intrinsic motivation entails the transfer and generation of tacit knowledge become possible when extrinsic motivation fails in operation (Osterloh and Frey, 2000). In light of intrinsic motivation, Web 2.0 interface has to be fun or challenging. Extrinsic motivation pertains that something is done because it can lead to a distinguishable outcome. For example, a person who shares his sustainable knowledge solely because of his fears of sanctions for not doing so. Such an act can be classied as extrinsically motivated as he is doing the work to attain the separable outcome, i.e. avoiding sanctions in this case (Ryan and Deci, 2000). In view of the existence of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation among humans, Ryan and Deci (2000) propose that there are six regulatory styles (see Fig. 1). These styles do provide useful insights to Web 2.0 service providers and users. Some psychologists and economists argue if both extrinsic and intrinsic motives are imposed on individuals, there will be a trade-o between the two types of motivation. This view, however, was challenged by many scholars. They concluded that the crowding-out eect does not exist. Crowding-out eect is unwarranted and is a phenomenon which happens only under specied conditions (Heckhausen, 1991).

6.3. Need's theory

Maslow suggests that people try to satisfy their needs step by step. According to Maslow (see Fig. 2), the rst four needs are: (1) (2) (3) (4) Physiological: bodily comforts, thirst, hunger, etc; Safety/security: being out of danger; Belongings and love: aliation with the others; Esteem: to gain recognition (Huitt, 2004).

6.2. Self-determination theory

In self-determination theory, dierent types of motivation are classied according to the reasons or goals which give rise to an action. There are two types of motivation under this theory: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. When a person is intrinsically motivated, he acts for the challenge or fun entailed rather than external rewards, prods or pressures. Therefore, it can be regarded as a further development of theory Y. The phenomenon of intrinsic motivation had been rst identied in an animal behaviour experiment. It was discovered that many organisms engage in curiosity-driven behaviours in absence of reward or reinforcement (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is very important for sustainable development knowledge sharing (Frey and Osterloh, 2002; Osterloh and Frey, 2000;

After fullling the most basic fundamental needs, e.g., food and water, they need self-fulllment (Li and Poon, 2007). Maslow believes that when people become more self-actualised, they are more intelligent and know what to do in dierent situations. Self-actualised people refer to those who are able to: (1) appreciate life; (2) be concerned about personal growth; (3) be problem-focused; and (4) have peak experiences. Maslow later split the need for self-actualisation into four levels (Huitt, 2004), namely: (5) Cognitive: to recognise, understand and investigate; (6) Aesthetic: to balance, categorize, and become attractive; (7) Self-actualisation: to nd ways to be self-fullled and realise an individual's potential; and (8) Self-transcendence: to help others realise their potential (Huitt, 2004).

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Extrinsic Motivation

Amotivation

External regulation

Introjection

Identification

Integration

Intrinsic motivation

Regulatory style Associated processes

Perceived noncontingency, low perceived competence, nonrelevance, nonintentionality Impersonal

Salience of extrinsic rewards or punishments, compliance /reluctance

Ego involvement focus on approval from self or others

Conscience valuing of activity, selfendorsement of goals

Hierarchical synthesis of goals congruence

Interest/ enjoyment, inherent satisfaction

Perceived locus of causality

External

Somewhat external

Somewhat external

Internal

Internal

Fig. 1. Taxonomy of human extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

theory is a modication of Maslow's theory based on the work of Gordon Allport who has incorporated systems theory into his work on personality.

6.5. Vroom's expectancy theory

Vroom visualises that the likelihood of one particular behaviour is determined by the perceived relationship between an action and the outcome of an action (Li and Poon, 2007). Expectation theorists suggests that force is a function of expectancy, instrumentality and valence (Chiang and Jang, 2007; Cole, 2004): (1) Expectancy: the belief that a rise in attempts will lead to better performance. (2) Instrumentality: the belief that the better performance, the better the outcome will be. (3) Valence: the better the expected outcome, the more motivated an individual will be (Cole, 2004). Perceived as one of the most important motivation theories, criticism concerns the construct validity in this theory (Chiang and Jang, 2007). Yet, it does provide some valuable insights on people's motivation on using Web 2.0. Put this theory into our current research agenda, and the aforesaid criteria have to be observed in order to drive people to ride the current wave of Web 2.0.

Fig. 2. Needs theory pyramid (Huitt, 2004).

Despite its wide acceptance, there are critics on Maslow's theories mainly due to its lack of evidence to support the hierarchy (Huitt, 2004). Cole (2004) even comments that the needs ladder, as such, is seldom realised in reality. Nevertheless, it provides a good idea that knowledge sharing motivation comes from the highest hierarchical needs, i.e. to attain self-actualisation (Li and Poon, 2009).

6.4. Alderfer's needs theory

Alderfer developed a comparable hierarchy with his Existence, Relatedness, and Growth theory (Table 5). This

6.6. Heckhausen's expanded model

Based on Vroom's expectancy model, Heckhausen's expanded model is developed. It shows four types of

Sustainable Development Knowledge by Web 2.0 Table 5. Alderfer's needs theory (Huitt, 2004). Level of need Growth Relatedness Denition Impel a person to induce productive or creative eects on his environment Build up relationships with others signicantly Properties

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Existence

It includes all of the various forms of psychological and material desires

Satised via using capabilities in handling problems; creates a sense of completeness as a human being. Satised by sharing thoughts and feelings mutually; conrmation, understanding and inuence are some of these examples. If resources are limited, when they are divided among the people, one person's gain is another's loss.

Fig. 3. Four types of expectancies in Heckhausen's expanded model (Heckhausen, 1991).

expectancies: (1) situation-outcome expectancy S ! O refers to the subjective probability where the current state will lead to a future outcome state; (2) action-outcome expectancy A ! O denotes the chances that a person's action will alter a given situation; (3) action-by-situationoutcome A-S ! O indicates the probability which lessens or heightens the action-outcome expectancy and, hence, lead to a resultant action-outcome expectancy; (4) outcome-consequence expectancy (OC) shows the degree to which an outcome is instrumental in leading a consequence with a specic value (Fig. 3). The aforementioned four types of expectancies are based on one particular attribution of the outcome. S ! O and A-S ! O shed light on external factors (i.e. anything outside Web 2.0

in our case). O ! C illustrates the casual factors which comprise of instrumentality relationships. External assessment such as certicates, titles and diplomas inuence people's behaviours (Heckhausen, 1991). These external assessment and recognition also aects people's decision on whether to share their sustainable development knowledge (Heckhausen, 1991). Various factors may have an inuence on the interaction process, but only as far as they change the relevant characteristics of the actors involved (Bressers, 2004). According to Weinberger and Fischer (2006), in order to be successfully implemented all actors need to have sucient knowledge about the problem at stake or the policy objective. More importantly, cognitions are about the information that is considered to be true. There needs to be some consensus about what reality looks like. When people observe reality, they use their frames of reference to interpret it. Also, when explicit knowledge is presented, people will (unconsciously) use a frame of reference to make sense of that knowledge. When explicit knowledge passes through those mental lters that we call frames of reference, we have interpretations. They further note that the rst item deals with the explicit knowledge that is being brought into the process. The way the knowledge is shaped and presented is examined, and which actor presents what knowledge is

Table 6. Dierent motivational theories in comparison to share sustainable development knowledge requirements. Motivation theory Theory X Theory Y Self-determination theory Hierarchy needs theory Alderfer's ERG theory Expectancy theory People are motivated to share sustainable development knowledge if Following the steps of Theory X supporters, possible information and knowledge delay or obsolete is the major source of motivation. A climate of trust has to be created. Motivation may come from having fun or challenges in Web 2.0 (intrinsic motivation) or sanction (extrinsic motivation). Motivation comes from the highest hierarchical needs, i.e. to attain self-actualisation. The members have a good relationship. Some sort of material or psychological desires also help. Web owners need to convey the idea to the members that a rise in attempts will lead to better performance, the better the performance, the better the outcome will be, and the better the expected outcome, the more motivated an individual will be. External assessment and recognition aects people's decision on whether or not to share their knowledge.

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also of importance. The second observation issue is about how the knowledge is processed by the various actors. This means that not only the degree to what actors internalise the information is observed, but also whether the knowledge ts the actors' way of thinking. Third, attention is paid to the number of dierent interpretations given to the knowledge presented. What is being left out? How much is simplied? A fourth item that needs to be observed is the direct (visible) inuence of knowledge in the interaction process. What images and story lines are constructed based on the knowledge presented? To what degree are actors speaking in terms of knowledge (this is how it is), in terms of motives (this is what I want) or in terms of power (this is how it is or else)? The authors have thus far provided a literature review presenting and examining the substantiation for this claim and providing the motivational theories that address these issues.

relevant characteristics of the actors involved (Bressers, 2004).

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the referees' valuable advice. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 6th International Conference on Knowledge Management ICKM 2009, December 34, 2009, Hong Kong, China.

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7. Conclusion
In this paper, the way Web 2.0 has overturned the traditional concept of how web information is provided and edited has been presented. Sustainable knowledge sharing no longer lies in the hand of web page owners, but in the hands of World Wide Web users. All the internet users can become the writers on sustainable development. Such rapid knowledge sharing methods, however, have not yet been accepted by all. Resistance to change can be explained by the stubborn nature of humans and people's readiness to accept change varies from person to person. To motivate individuals in adopting Web 2.0 for sharing sustainable development knowledge, web owners are advised to observe the traditional motivation theories (Table 6). Boisot (1995) uses the term public knowledge for codied and diusible knowledge. Public knowledge is what is considered to be \real" knowledge; it is published in journals, books and other more formal sources. Choo (1998) distinguishes explicit knowledge in object-based knowledge and rule-based knowledge. Object-based knowledge is codied in a series of symbols (words, numbers, and formulas) or in physical objects (installations, documents, models). Rulebased knowledge is the type of knowledge that is codied in rules, routines and standardised production methods. The same type of distinction is made by Blackler (1995). In his view, knowledge is embodied in actions and the competencies of people and are embedded in systematic routines and procedures. Various factors may have an inuence on the interaction process, but only and as far as they change the

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