With the transformation from an industrial to an information-based society, corporations are required more than ever to utilize all their employees' knowledge to keep up with market demands. Therefore, personal informal networks and communities are becoming the major information resource in addition to the classical handbooks and document management systems containing highly structured information objects. Many technically sophisticated systems for document and content management have been designed to assist knowledge workers in exchanging information and expertise, but in most cases they fail to meet expectations. This book presents one possible solution to assist network organizers in designing informal knowledge networks by introducing a model and a software toolset to improve decision support. The model, based on findings from computational organization theory and social network analysis, extends the existing explanatory research, and allows for developing appropriate strategies of community engineering and anticipating the potential impacts on organizational performance before taking action.

Praise for the First Edition of Virtual Teams "If you want to see where organizational communications are going in the future, heed what these pioneers have written today." —Howard Rheingold, author, The Virtual Community, and founder, Electric Mind "Lipnack and Stamps have written an important book for the twenty-first-century corporation." —Regis McKenna, The McKenna Group, author, Relationship Marketing "This book provides a long overdue perspective on how to apply the discipline of real teams in the fast-moving, increasingly dispersed information age of the future." —Jon R. Katzenbach, author, The Wisdom of Teams "For those who want to lead the movement, catch up with it, or simply know where it is going, this book is packed with useful information and interesting stories." —Dee W. Hock, founder and chairman emeritus, VISA "Virtual Teams provides valuable insights into global teamwork and management through network technologies now available to all companies, large or small." —Jim Lynch, director, corporate quality, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Knowledge Networking explains the strategic, organizational and human impact of technologies that support knowledge: the internet, groupware, collaborative technologies. It shows how they can transform organizational practices and help to improve both individual and team performances. Based on proven experience and includes customised toolkits, cases and action plans. From pooling expertise on a sales bid via computer referencing, to improving customer service using the flexible office, the author demonstrates how potential can become practice. Knowledge management is the big management idea currently influencing organizations, and Knowledge Networking explores the global impact of sharing knowledge and expertise. It is a highly practical text which includes customised toolkits, cases and action plans to enable individuals and teams to improve their performance.

This book brings together the research of a number of scholars in the field of knowledge creation and imparts a sense of order to the field. The chapters share three characteristics: they are all grounded in extensive qualitative and/or quantitative research; they all go beyond the mere description of the knowledge-creation process and offer both theoretical and strategic implications; they share a view of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer as delicate processes, necessitating particular forms of support from managers.

Knowledge Networks: Innovation Through Communities of Practice explores the inner workings of an organizational, internationally distributed Community of Practice. The book highlights the weaknesses of the 'traditional' KM approach of 'capture-codify-store' and asserts that communities of practice are recognized as groups where soft (knowledge that cannot be captured) knowledge is created and sustained. Readers will gain insight into a period the life of a distributed international community of practice by following the members as they work, meet, collaborate, interact and socialize.

Educational researchers, policy-makers and practitioners are increasingly focusing their attention on Professional Learning Networks in order to facilitate teacher development and encourage school and school system improvement. However, despite the understanding that PLNs can contribute significantly to improving teaching practice and student achievement, there are key challenges regarding their use. These challenges include: ensuring PLNs can provide opportunities for generating and sharing knowledge within schools enabling teachers and professionals to direct their own development helping individuals change their practices through inquiry-led approaches facilitating partnerships which work across a variety of stakeholders In this new edited volume, Brown and Poortman evaluate these challenges from both a theoretical and practical approach. A multitude of perspectives from a team of international contributors covers: the importance of Professional Learning Networks the use of evidence within PLNs the impact of inter-school networks international cases of networks and communities the promotion and sustainability of PLNs Also featuring case studies and exemplars to contextualise sustainable learning networks, Networks For Learning is an accessible and thoroughly-researched book, which will be essential reading and a valuable resource for researchers, teachers and school leaders who are interested in developing professional learning networks.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a reality for pioneering organizations while they are facing complex and multifaceted aspects of business sustainability with ambiguous and changing ethical norms and vague or nonexistent legislation. The first quarter of the 21st century was identified as the beginning of the continuous, ongoing, and accelerating wave of simultaneous general purpose technologies revolutions causing accelerated shrinkage of the half-life of knowledge. Cases on Enhancing Business Sustainability Through Knowledge Management Systems presents teaching case studies exploring the formulation and implementation of knowledge management systems (KMS) in organizations. Covering topics such as automation, machine learning, and socio-ecological innovation, this case book is an essential resource for business leaders and managers, IT managers, entrepreneurs, government officials, computer scientists, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.