Chapter 8 Update

Knowledge and collaboration in an interprise still causes many problems. This toolkit should help guide you through the maze. The more I hear from people trying to create virtual teams and virtual companies, the more I feel that they would gain by at least adding some systematic planning to the necessary emotional component that drives many of them. Thus while the toolkit remains unchanged, there are a few topics that benefit from updated commentary.

Things to Think About

Customer Knowledge Sharing. There is growing interest in customer relationship management (CRM), but little of this focus has yet turned into active knowledge collaboration with customers (page 218-220).

Virtual Spaces (pages 221-222). The growth of portals is providing more focus and structure around Virtual Information Space. Portals (such as Yahoo!) remain the most frequently visited websites, but users have varying success in finding what they are seeking. Portal providers are seeking similar content, so we see the growth of content intermediaries (information syndicators or brokers). As noted in the update to chapter 4, there is a surge of interest in virtual markets, so many of these spaces need monitoring closely, depending on how your organization wants to position itself in cyberspace.

Other Updates

• Valdis Krebs has continued to update to his analyses of Internet alliances. There is a new Internet Industry Alliances page with a printable map and network metrics.

Discussion Points

Share with us your views and experience on this toolkit.

Please email your feedback discussion points to the author at david@skyrme.com. Responses will be summarized in future updates - see Feedback notes.

Additional Information

The Knowledge Connections web site provides a comprehensive resource for many topics covered in the chapter. You can also subscribe to a free monthly email briefing I3 UPDATE / ENTOVATION International news. Also make sure you check out Butterworth-Heinemann's Knowledge Management section from time to time for details of new publications and special offers.