On the Convergence of Knowledge Management and Groupware

As successful organizations recognize that they need to convert their intellectual resources into customized services, the value of electronic collaboration has increased. Current efforts in managing knowledge have concentrated on producing; sharing and storing knowledge while business problems require the combined use of these intellectual resources to enable organizations to provide innovative and customized services. This paper argues that knowledge management and collaboration have common, mutually interdependent purposes and practices. It develops a framework that demonstrates this interdependence, mapping collaboration technologies to knowledge management activities. It concludes with a call for the convergence of these two streams for the benefit of researchers, practitioners, and organizations.