Becoming Virtual: Knowledge Management and Transformation of the Distributed Organization (Contributions to Management Science)

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .