Becoming Virtual : Knowledge Management and Transformation of the Distributed Organization

The editors and research team would like to thank the management and staff of TPC, who must remain anonymous. Without their enthusiastic - volvement, openness and patience, this project would not have been pos- ble. We hope that the outcomes are useful to them and any others wishing to understand the complexities and implications of becoming virtual. June 2007 Jane Klobas Paul Jackson Contents Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Part 1 – Envisioning and Planning for Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1 Aligning Goals, Virtuality and Capability: A Virtual Alignment Model Paul Jackson and Jane Klobas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2 Envisioning and Monitoring the Process of Becoming Virtual Paul Jackson and Jane Klobas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3 The Challenge of Becoming Virtual Jane Klobas and Stefano Renzi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Part 2 – New Insights intoKnowledge Management and Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 4 Social Uncertainty in Virtual Organizations: A Preliminary Ontology of the Constituent Elements Ivan Jensen and Paul Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 5 When Communities of Practice Fail: Community Ties and Organizational Commitment Gaela Bernini and Jane Klobas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 6 An Exploratory Survey of the Structure and Components of Organizational Memory Paul Jackson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 viii Contents 7 The Organization as a Transactive Memory System Paul Jackson and Jane Klobas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 8 Adoption of Technologies for Virtual Work Stefano Renzi, Jane Klobas and Paul Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 9 Monitoring, Control and the Performance of Virtual Work Paul Jackson, Jane Klobas and Hosein Gharavi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Part 3 – Understanding Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 10 The Challenge of Becoming Virtual, Part 2 Jane Klobas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .