Question 4

The knowledge community of Hallmark Cards is initiated by the company and membership is by invitation. Would this "top-down" approach to the community development cause any problem in achieving its effectiveness? Discuss.

Communities as defined by Hallmark are knowledge groups devoted to growing the business by sharing innovative ideas and building on the ideas of others. I do not believe a "top-down" approach to community development would be effective based on the fact that the entire community relies on the informal structure and dynamic membership created by voluntary participation. In work groups, people are motivated to participate because it is their objective, but in a knowledge community, people are motivated by their own internalized sense of purpose and rewards. If a company were to create a community with the top-down approach, I believe this would not be an effective "community" at all, but rather a work group created for a specific purpose. Even if the purpose was some sort of knowledge initiative, the overall effectiveness of the "community" would be minimal.