Information technology and productivity

In the NYT, this report claiming that computers (can) give big boosts to productivity.

Money spent on computing technology delivers gains in worker productivity that are three to five times those of other investments, according to a study being published today.

Well, the study (pdf) was initiated by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which is in turn supported by companies like IBM and Cisco, so this outcome should come as no surprise.

Anyway, an interesting approach, even when this calls for more profound research, e.g. to differentiate between the different kinds and sources of these productivity gains. And I have no doubt that Peter Drucker’s famous aphorism (and the challenges it poses) are not really met …

“To make knowledge work productive will be the great management task of this century, just as to make manual work productive was the great management task of the last century.”

Peter Drucker, cited again …

Beyond Enterprise 2.0

Just found: Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee are interviewed in the latest edition of the MIT Sloan Management Review. “Beyond Enterprise 2.0” in a section which looks promising as well: The Future of the Web. Best of all – it’s available as a free pdf.

Nearly all businesses today are critically dependent on the Web for their everyday functioning, so it is important to stay attuned to its continuing evolution, innovation and challenges. In this special report, a variety of noted experts explore a wide range of topics pivotal to the Web’s future, from e-commerce to collaboration tools to some of the Web’s unsettling vulnerabilities.

[Crossposting into the BMID-blog]

IBM ShortCuts Podcast on being a wiki evangelist

On time with the BusinessWeek feature on wikis in the enterprise IBM’s ShortCuts Podcast has another take with Luis Suarez, who offers tips on becoming a wiki evangelist (remember this picture of another evangelist …). Here’s the mp3.

What are some key factors in supporting and nurturing a wiki? How does one launch a socially collborative web experience and keep it from failing? In this episode, Shortcuts knowledge management expert Luis Suarez offers tips on becoming a wiki evangelist.

Enterprise 2.0 is not about technologies, and not about wikis alone

What makes this BusinessWeek wiki feature outstanding is that it doesn’t restrict its approach on the technology.

Too often, people talk about social software in techno-gabberish, while we know that the main tasks are organization related and have more to do with change management, implementation and persuading people, i.e. finding promotors, followers, early adopters.

Supporting fitting organizational structures, through supportive management and coaching, maybe even rewards and benefit systems (I am no friend of this approach, yet, it has its merits), was not really discussed, but one could feel these issues lurking in the background in most articles.

BusinessWeek zu Wikis im Unternehmen

Wikis are now making their way into corporations where they are used as collaborative software to handle such tasks as project management, tech support, research and development, event planning and customer relationship management

Hier die Übersichtsseite (“CEO Guide to Technology”), darin u.a. das:

    Wild About Wikis
    Intel, Motorola, Sony—they’re among the companies using Web-collaboration tools to promote products and foster teamwork among employees
    Tip Sheet: Wiki Etiquette
    This short primer may help you through the perils and pleasures of collaboration on intra-company wikis
    Corporate Wikis Go Viral
    Two European companies [frogpond: Nokia und Dresdner Kleinwort] show how the collaborative practice spreads from early adopters of wikis at work to become mainstream business tools

Nicht zu vergessen ein Podcast-Interview mit Andrew McAfee von Rachel King (mp3), in dem er neben verschiedenen Einsatz- und Anwendungsszenarien auch Aspekte der Einführung anspricht.

Sind Sie am Einsatz von Wikis in ihrem Unternehmen interessiert? Sprechen Sie mich an.

Knowledge Management Champion

superkmchamp2_klein.jpg

Via Patrick Lambe, this hilarious picture of a knowledge management champion. Yes, this seems to be no easy task, and is true for social software activists in the enterprise as well. But as one commenter noted this nice little creature bears some resemblance to Ganesha, the God of success and victory, he who removes obstacles …

The Next Wave of Enterprise 2.0

M.R. Rangaswami, of Sand Hill Group interviews
Web 2.0 pioneer Ross Mayfield of SocialText on what’s going to define the next few years in social software for business.

Enterprise 2.0 technology is revolutionizing the knowledge workplace. And despite debates over the name and definition, experts agree that the core concepts and business-driving power of Enterprise 2.0 will only continue to grow.