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.

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.

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.

"In this book researchers have employed different approaches to examine and describe various types of relationships among people in communities by using social capital as a conceptual and theoretical tool"--Provided by publisher.

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.

"The book provides researchers and developers of online collaborative systems with approaches for effective and efficient means that would assist e-learning students and teachers with precise and relevant information regarding the ongoing online learning activity at both individual and group levels"--Provided by publisher.