Managing knowledge in distributed projects

Reviewer: Celia T. Romm

This analytical paper focuses on a paradox that plagues knowledge management systems: information that is located centrally (such as on an intranet) can be well organized, but is rarely relevant to real-time project management, while information that is exchanged within a project team (such as through groupware technology) is relevant to the immediate needs of the team members, but is difficult for individuals outside of the team to access and use. After considering the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches, with examples from large organizations that employ them, the authors propose a hybrid model that takes advantage of both. The hybrid model consists of a central reservoir of information about projects, and from projects, that members of the whole organization need for all projects. In addition, the model consists of local reservoirs that individual project teams establish to support their projects. These reservoirs are indexed in the central reservoir, and are therefore available to all members of the organization, even though the information in them is not structured and easily searchable, as is the information in the central reservoir. The paper addresses an issue that is of utmost importance to organizations, offering valuable insights to both practitioners and researchers. Online Computing Reviews Service