Module Importance of Wikis

Module Importance of Wikis in a Business Wikis are web application programs that permit individuals who visit the pages to contribute, alter, or erase subject matter as they interact with others. They can aid in attracting customers for a business through the following ways. Firstly, a wiki allows interaction between the customers. This enables a potential customer to ask questions concerning the company and its services, therefore, gaining insight about the company (Cummings 6). That would act as a form of marketing and it would attract customers to the business. Secondly, a potential customer can observe how the business offers its services and products by reading other people’s comments, therefore, getting attracted to the business if it has good ratings. This would bring new customers to the business. Thirdly, potential customers seek to work with companies that they can trust. A business that has a wiki creates an atmosphere of trust by showing that it accepts criticism if a service is rendered poorly. Therefore, many businesses that develop wikis are thought to deliver quality services, therefore, attracting new customers (Wagner and Majchrzak 17). The wiki can be critical to the employees as it would offer a platform where they can communicate with the customers, thus making them understand what the business is all about. It also ensures that the employees are treated well in the business to ensure that their comments are in the company’s favor. Partners can view the company’s progress through the wiki by reading the comments and assessing them to see if quality services and products are offered (Wagner and Majchrzak 21). Wikis bear ethical and security concerns in that any individual can add content, which may be offensive or not be relevant to the topics. Secondly, people assume that the wikis can be edited or written in favor of a particular issue, thus reducing credibility. Thirdly, wikis can be tampered with using malware applications or viruses (Cummings 6). The company can address these issues by ensuring that the users are registered before gaining access to the wiki. This helps to detected changes and identifies users’ presence. Antivirus programs can be used to detect malware programs that could be harmful to the computers (Wagner and Majchrzak 37).Works CitedCummings, Robert E.. Wiki Writing Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom. Ann Arbor: Digital Culture Books, an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Library, 2008. Print.Wagner, Christian, and Ann Majchrzak. “Enabling Customer-Centricity Using Wikis and The Wiki Way.” Journal of Management Information Systems 23.3 (2007): 17-43. Print.