Emergent communities of practice in temporary inter‐organisational partnerships

EE-ISAC—Practical Cybersecurity Solution for the Energy Sector

A recent survey of cybersecurity assessment methods proposed by the scientific community revealed that their practical adoption constitutes a great challenge. Further research that aimed at identifying the reasons for that situation demonstrated that several factors influence the applicability, including the documentation level of detail, the availability of supporting tools, and the continuity of support. This paper presents the European Energy Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (EE-ISAC)—a cybersecurity platform for the energy sector that has been adopted by multiple organisations. The platform facilitates sharing information about cybersecurity incidents, countermeasures, and assessment results. Prospectively, it is envisaged to be integrated with the threat intelligence platform that enables real-time situational awareness. By considering both fault and attack scenarios together, threat awareness can be mapped onto operational contexts to prioritise decisions and responses. This paper analyses EE-ISAC’s approach based on the conceptual applicability framework developed during the research, to improve the applicability and usefulness of this platform for energy sector participants and to identify areas that require further development.

Challenges to the learning organization in the context of generational diversity and social networks

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the challenges to the emergence of a learning organization (LO) posed by a context of generational diversity and an enterprise social networking system (ESNS).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a qualitative methodology based on an analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews in a high-tech organization and internal company documents relating to the introduction of a new, centralized ESNS.

Findings

This study uncovers fundamental differences between Generation X and Y employees regarding their ESNS adoption and use. While Xers take more time to adopt the new centralized ESNS introduced into the company, their use seems in line with the company culture and corporate norms of behavior. At the same time, even if Yers are faster ESNS adopters, they use it as they use Facebook disregarding the hierarchy and organizational boundaries. This creates tensions between Generation X and Y and undermines the formation of the LO.

Research limitations/implications

As conclusions are specific to a context of a single organization, the authors recommend other case studies, to enrich the findings.

Originality/value

By highlighting how the use of social networks modifies who has the power and the control over knowledge in an organization, this paper enriches the theory on the LO. It has implications for managers wishing to design LOs in the context of intergenerational diversity.