The transfer of knowledge between groups of individuals of different levels of expertise and orientation is discussed with reference to the manner in which knowledge is disseminated using the specialist language of a given domain. A prototype system that allows access to knowledge at these different levels, through the automatic construction of keyword indexes, is outlined. The controversial relationship between knowledge and language is the basis of arguments in this paper.

In order for companies to remain competitive they must be able to utilise their knowledge of customers, products, services and resources. This can be instilled in the culture of the organisation, and this becomes paramount when the organisation deals in international markets. This research paper focuses on five main attributes, most pertinent to this study, of culture (identified by Terpstra and Sarathy, and by Gesteland). These attributes are technology and material culture, religion, language, education, and business ethics. The primary data comprised of interviews from six different e‑Businesses.

Due to an evolution of business models compatible with networked economy, office — environments of this age need effective support for collaboration among office workers. This article demonstrates that existing Extended Office Systems (EOS) are not specifically designed to maintain awareness and knowledge‑sharing requirements of the collaborating actors of many of today's networked office environments. Using an awareness framework for sharing of contextual knowledge in collaborative business processes, this article provides general design directives for a Collaboration‑ Aware EOS (CAEOS) system that facilitates sharing of the contextual knowledge among office workers in networked offices. In order to assess its effectiveness, this framework is applied to a network management case study with the aim of identifying the awareness requirements of the actors within that process. The results confirm effectiveness of the framework. The components of the framework, that is the process model and the awareness model, are then used as analytical tools as input to the design of CAEOS for achieving its collaborating goals. It is suggested that the process model component of the framework to constitute foundation for the knowledge‑base component of the CAEOS, whereas the awareness model of the framework to constitute foundation for the inference engine of the CAEOS'.

This paper presents a 2x2 matrix which focuses on individual knowledge and knowledge sharing. There is a vast amount of literature that has acknowledged that the management of knowledge is an important strategic and tactical approach to improve organizational performance. Knowledge sharing between individuals in an organization has also been recognized as a sound strategy to increase the value of the knowledge within a firm. The model presented in this paper proposes a typology of individuals that contributes to the literature both from an academic as well as a practitioner perspective; it extends the literature on knowledge management, and provides suggestions on how to aid individuals adopt a more desirable behavior that is conducive to firm survival.

Contrary to the "one‑fits‑all" approach used in the literature on how to sustain virtual communities of practice (VCoPs), this paper advocates that successful management practices should be contingent upon their basic characteristics. More specifically, this study of eight virtual communities of practice investigates how the actions taken by the communities' leadership teams may influence their success. The results show that decisions regarding the operational leadership of a VCoP are crucial elements to counteract the challenges arising from its structuring characteristics. Among those decisions, the choice and availability of a leader and the support of a coach are shown to be crucial.

In a knowledge economy landscape, successful global consulting firms are the ones putting focus on effectively and efficiently organising and managing the highly distributed diversified knowledge in the organisation. In order to sustain their competitive advantage, knowledge‑companies need to harness knowledge and to analyse knowledge sharing mechanisms and learning in the whole organisation. Knowledge sharing in global firms is a not only a cross‑department process but it should also take place within the same department. It is well recognised that the knowledge sharing mechanism is a highly complex process to put in place and to promote in the organisation. The primary goal of our research is to empirically investigate knowledge sharing and learning mechanisms within a global consulting company. The phenomenology discipline has guided our research methodology because it is the most appropriate approach for coping with the social complexity of management and business. Our research approach intends to make social sense from the knowledge sharing practices and observations conducted in order to understand how and what is shared.

This paper presents recent research findings on the effects of organizational knowledge management (KM) context on KM practices. Data were collected at a large Canadian law firm via a Web‑based survey instrument from over 400 participants comprising professional and support staff working in various office locations. The purpose of the study was to gain insight on the antecedents of knowledge management behaviors in organizations. A theoretical model explicating the impact of an organization's KM environment on both organizational and individual KM behaviors was developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. The moderating effects of age, biological sex, job category, and years spent in the organization were also examined. Results indicate that an organization's knowledge management environment impacts on both organizational as well as personal knowledge management behaviors. Furthermore, we show that organizational KM behavior also influences personal KM behavior, thus acting as a mediator between the overarching organizational knowledge management policies and practices and the employees' individual practices. Based on this empirical evidence, recommendations are suggested for organizations wishing to institutionalize knowledge management initiatives in their firms.

Interdisciplinary project teams foster the creation of new ideas and innovations to meet customer needs and to challenge competition under the pre‑condition that the team and knowledge transfer processes are running smoothly and efficiently. In practice knowledge created in projects often is lost when the team splits up and the members return to their tasks in the organisation. This leads to inefficiency as time and money is spent in inventing things, which are already known inside the organisation. The case study outlines how knowledge and potentials for improvement can be explored and synergies can be realised. 0ur approach offers guidelines to accumulate transfer and utilize knowledge acquired in projects to improve future business. Through a knowledge‑oriented concept the consulting and software implementation process of the case study's company is optimised. This offers the possibility to integrate organisational change management know‑how and furthermore it gives the opportunity for a critical reflection of finished and ongoing projects. In this process "best practices" and "lessons learned" are explored to foster a better planning and realisation of projects on the long run.