-------- Original-Nachricht -------- Betreff: [isworld] JITCAR Volume 11, Number 2 has been published Datum: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:49:10 -0400 Von: Gordon, Steven gordon@babson.edu Antwort an: Gordon, Steven gordon@babson.edu An: AISWORLD Information Systems World Network isworld@lyris.isworld.org
Dear Colleagues:
It is my pleasure to announce the publication of the 42st issue of JITCAR (Volume 11, Number 2) -- The Journal of IT Case and Application Research. This is a special issue on Technology Enabled Social Networks. I offer my thanks to Special Issue Editor, Salvatore Parise of Babson College. Details are provided below.
Sincerely, Steven R. Gordon Editor-in-Chief, JITCAR Professor, Information Technology Management Babson College, Babson Park, MA 02457 Tel: 781-239-4571 Web: http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon
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JITCAR Volume 11, Number 2, 2009 (http://www.jitcar.org) Special issue on Technology Enabled Social Networks Special Issue Editor, Salvatore Parise, Babson College
Editorial Preface Social Media Networks: What Do They Mean for Knowledge Management? Salvatore Parise, Babson College, Massachusetts, USA
Research Article One Analyzing R&D Knowledge Flows in the Flat World Eoin Whelan, University of Limerick, Ireland Brian Donnellan and Willie Golden, National University of Galway, Ireland
Research Article Two Limits to Growth: A Theoretical Framework to Simulate Dynamics in Online Community Networks Peter Otto, Union College, New York, USA
Teaching Case Article Harnessing Unstructured Knowledge: The Business Value of Social Bookmarking at MITRE Salvatore Parise, Patricia J. Guinan, and Bala Iyer, Babson College, Massachusetts, USA Donna L. Cuomo and Bill Donaldson, MITRE Corporation, USA
The Expert Opinion An Interview with Sukumar Rajagopal Senior VP & CKO, Cognizant Technology Solutions Conducted and Documented by Salvatore Parise Babson College, Massachusetts, USA
Book Review Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies By Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Published in 2008 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-2500-7, 286 pages Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, Florida, USA
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Editorial Preface Social Media Networks: What Do They Mean for Knowledge Management? Salvatore Parise Babson College, Massachusetts, USA
SOCIAL MEDIA IS EVERYWHERE I recently was part of a 90-minute research presentation on social media at Babson College's Center for Information Management Studies (CIMS). As I was presenting, some audience members were posting "highlights" of the presentation on Twitter. Before the presentation was complete, I had already received comments and requests for the presentation by several of my Twitter "followers". Right after my talk, I was interviewed by Babson marketing, and by the end of the day, the 10-minute audio podcast was put on the college's website, with a link to the podcast posted on Twitter. In the "old days", colleagues might have heard about my talk through word-of-mouth or during chats at conferences (and they still might). But today, dissemination of information through social media networks such as Twitter is real-time and can reach a very large audience. ...
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Analyzing R&D Knowledge Flows in the Flat World Eoin Whelan, University of Limerick, Ireland Brian Donnellan and Willie Golden, National University of Galway, Ireland
ABSTRACT Previous research has firmly established the importance of informal social networks in facilitating knowledge flows in research and development (R&D) settings. However, the explosion of Web technologies in recent years have 'flattened' the planet and dramatically altered our understanding of what constitutes a social network. Despite this, current research has neglected to examine how Web technologies have impacted knowledge flows in R&D. To address this research gap, we revisit the highly influential technological gatekeeper theory. Drawing on social network analysis (SNA) and interview evidence from a medical devices R&D group, we find that the gatekeeper role is still vital, but no longer needs to be performed by a single individual. Instead, the modern R&D group can keep abreast of the latest technological advances through a combination of Web-enabled internal and external communication specialists. A unique contribution this paper makes to the IT-enabled social network literature is the development of an updated conceptual framework of how the gatekeeper role is performed in the modern R&D group.
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Research Article Two Limits to Growth: A Theoretical Framework to Simulate Dynamics in Online Community Networks Peter Otto, Union College, New York, USA
ABSTRACT Online communities can help an organization discover and share knowledge more effectively by facilitating learning both from within the organization, as well as from entities outside the organization. In those instances where firms have linkages with outside organizations, however, the acquisition and sharing of knowledge takes place free from the constraints of hierarchy and local rules. These networks can be characterized as loosely structured, and generally self-organizing, and made up of individuals who voluntarily participate in the creation and sharing of knowledge. Building online networks without formal boundaries is a challenging task for any organization. This is because those responsible for building them must not only encourage the use of the new tools, but also refrain from intervening too often or with too heavy a hand. The objective of this article is to conceptualize a simulation model with which we can test the effects of structural interventions in online community networks. The simulation model described in this paper is based on an explicit dynamic theory derived from the relevant literature.
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Teaching Case Article Harnessing Unstructured Knowledge: The Business Value of Social Bookmarking at MITRE Salvatore Parise, Patricia J. Guinan, and Bala Iyer, Babson College, Massachusetts, USA Donna L. Cuomo and Bill Donaldson, MITRE Corporation, USA
ABSTRACT Due to an increasingly complex and dynamic environment with respect to gathering and analyzing knowledge for its government clients, the MITRE organization had to re-think its knowledge management strategy. Sharing "unstructured" knowledge, such as a video podcast of a recent external speaker, expert opinions on latest research topics that are on external blogs and websites, and conference presentations residing on people's desktops, among employees was deemed critical. MITRE introduced onomi, a social tagging system which allows users to "tag" any knowledge document or web resource, and to share these bookmarks and tags with other users. In 2008, while there had been anecdotal evidence that this social tool was well-received, measuring the value of these social tools (often called Web 2.0) had been difficult. The challenge remained: How to move adoption of the onomi tool from early adopters to the broader MITRE population. This required convincing employees that onomi provided value to their work and was "not just another tool".
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The Expert Opinion An Interview with Sukumar Rajagopal Senior VP & CKO, Cognizant Technology Solutions Conducted and Documented by Salvatore Parise Babson College, Massachusetts, USA
INTRODUCTION Mr. Sukumar Rajagopal is a Senior VP and Chief Knowledge Officer at Cognizant Technology Solutions. Mr. Rajagopal has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. He has been highly successful in several areas including project delivery, P&L management, executive relationship building, operations management and knowledge management in consulting companies. He has extensive experience in managing Fortune 500 clients. He has been able to build and sustain effective customer and partner relationships through excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Mr. Rajagopal was one of the prime movers of the ebusiness practice in Cognizant. He has managed numerous complex IT and strategic development projects. He has managed delivery teams of 10 to 700 consultants and has had overall responsibility for over 2500 people in an onsite-offshore model. He has consistently demonstrated strong leadership skills by building high performance teams, and he is very passionate about training and mentoring team mates.
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Book Review Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies By Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Published in 2008 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-2500-7, 286 pages Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, Florida, USA
INTRODUCTION During the U.S. presidential campaign in 2008, one candidate, when speaking in a state that suffered from high unemployment due to job losses in smoke stack industries, told workers that some "steel jobs are not coming back." (Holland, 2008) His point was that economies, technologies, and jobs had changed and that the jobs that earned people a good living in the mid-20th century were not going to be the jobs that would earn people a good living in the U.S. in the 21st century. That is the same fundamental transformation represented in Groundswell, only the transformation in Groundswell represents a change in the ways people collect, store, communicate, interact, and share information. There is a groundswell that has changed the rules for all of these activities. Some people understand these groundswell transformations and are riding the crest of the wave by harnessing the energy of the groundswell. Others are not so perceptive and are being swept along by the force of the transformations. Explaining the forces at work is what Groundswell does, and does with great clarity and specificity. Just like the presidential candidate describing the changes in jobs (above), Li and Bernoff describe how organizations must change if they are to harness the power of connectedness, or how they will be swept along if they fail to change.
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