Paul Jackson, Edith Cowan University, Australia

For any manger who wants to understand the full potentail value of web 2.0 rather than just its basic capabilities Web 2.0 Knowledge Technologies and the Enterprise is a recommended read
Library Review

 - written by a well-respected practitioner and academic
 - draws on the author’s practical experience as a technology developer, designer, senior manager and researcher
 - provides approaches to understanding and tackling real-world problems

Whilst enterprise technology departments have been steadily building their information and knowledge management portfolios, the Internet has generated new sets of tools and capabilities which provide opportunities and challenges for improving and enriching knowledge work. This book fills the gap between strategy and technology by focussing upon the functional capabilities of Web 2.0 in corporate environments and matching these to specific types of information requirement and behaviour. It takes a resource based view of the firm: why and how can the knowledge capabilities and information assets of organisations be better leveraged using Web 2.0 tools?

Identifying the underlying benefits requires the use of frameworks beyond profitability and cost control. Some of these perspectives are not in the usual business vocabulary, but when applied, demonstrate the role that can be played by Web 2.0, how to manage towards these and how to assess success. Transactive memory systems, social uncertainty, identity theory, network dynamics, complexity theory, organisational memory and the demographics of inter- generational change are not part of normal business parlance but can be used to clarify Web 2.0 application and potentiality.

Readership: This book is directed towards three constituencies: researchers who are seeking frameworks to assess the impact of Web 2.0 on businesses; MBA or MIS students who, as the emerging generation of business actors and managers, are seeking to understand how work is to be enhanced with Web 2.0 tools; the reflective CIO, Information or Knowledge Management Professional who enjoys a fresh perspective on information technology tools.

ISBN 1 84334 537 4
ISBN-13: 978 1 84334 537 4
May 2010
280 pages  234 x 156mm  paperback