THE CALL
We are pleased to invite scholars and practitioners to contribute chapters that advance our theoretical or practical understanding of the new Knowledge Management (KM) practices in the context of Enterprise 2.0 (or enterprise social software). Enterprise 2.0 “is the use of Web 2.0, emergent social software platforms within companies or between companies, and their partners or customers” as defined initially by Andrew McAfee. It has since evolved to cover further dimensions.

The book aims to give an overview on theoretical and empirical research that investigates the next KM generation in the Web 2.0 age, which would be called KM 2.0. It will highlight evolutions of the KM area with a global focus and an international dimension of studies. The objective is also to compare different approaches and practices developed in different countries and cultures.

THE CONTEXT
In the last few years, KM practices have evolved in organizations. Due to the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies, new usages of information and knowledge sharing have emerged (Enterprise 2.0). The new generation of employees (Generation Y or Milennials) has new habits at work. They use everyday Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, social networking platforms, Mashups, etc.) in the private arena and, therefore, consider that such technologies for e-collaboration and self-organizing are the best means/methods to work. They are eager to simply and quickly find good information/knowledge, anytime and anywhere, and are not intimidated by knowledge complexity and organizational hierarchy.

Thus, the concept of KM has been impacted and has evolved towards more human interactions management and interpersonal networking, in addition to traditional information and knowledge processing. Organizations are currently developing a new type of KM which is social-based and may be called KM 2.0. They become knowledge-centric organizations because they focus more on KM and social collaboration, rather than on hierarchy and control. In this new era, all employees can equally participate in creating, using, and sharing information and knowledge. Knowledge is no longer a matter of expert. Every “individual” (or knowledge worker) plays a central role in this case. Knowledge generated by employees is not only used for designing value-added products or services, but also for inventing new work modes based on people empowerment, user emergent participation and collaboration. Business models, organizational management, work modes, knowledge worker’s skills and behavior, and so forth are intended to be transformed, reviewed, and even sometimes to be rethought.

Moreover, while the old KM generation focuses mainly on intra-organizational knowledge, KM 2.0 covers technological evolutions, making it more naturally inter-organizational KM (IKM), such as in SCM and e-business where many exchanges and sharing of knowledge are done between partners through social networks and communities.

THE BOOK CONTENT
The book will be written for those who want to improve his/her understanding of challenges associated with KM evolutions due to the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies. It will, in particular, discuss impacts of KM 2.0 practices on: