Collaboration and knowledge sharing in network organizations

A network organization comprises a new type of environment around which people organize themselves so as to reach a common objective. A network organization enables the recommended interaction among people with different backgrounds, which happens when the problems they deal with are complex and multidisciplinary. Most network organizations require interactions in a geographically distributed fashion, fostering the serious challenge of displaying coherence of purpose necessary for global efficacy as from local activity: these features require an environment with special functionality. This paper describes and analyzes a collaborative environment for support to knowledge sharing and coordination of actions in geographically distributed network organizations. A case-study using the collaborative environment is presented, and the results obtained by using this environment are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.