Enterprise 2.0: A Critical Assessment

This document is now published for Burton Group clients, the summary is below. The full document  is 54 pages.

Enterprise strategists have long been aware that the “informal organization” has tremendous influence on business success or failure. A vibrant culture with a strong sense of community and cross-functional network of employee relationships can significantly augment traditional management methods and processes structures. Hierarchy and formal controls can inadvertently result in compliance policies, decision-making roles, and work handing rules that constrain the ability of people to effectively communicate, share information, and collaborate. In many cases, these “gating mechanisms” are necessary business constructs that serve valid purposes (e.g., security), but they have unintended consequences: communication may not be timely, relevant knowledge might not be shared, and collaboration may not occur across departmental boundaries.

Breakdowns in information sharing and collaboration and a poor sense of community within an enterprise can impact a worker's willingness to share insight and pass along experiences. Catalyzing the informal organization is becoming a more complex challenge for business and information technology (IT) strategists as shifting employee demographics crystallize concerns regarding aging workforce trends and expectations of younger employees (e.g., new work models).

Recent market trends and media coverage have triggered a renaissance of sorts concerning collaboration and knowledge management (KM). The term “Enterprise 2.0” (E2.0) describes a collection of organizational and IT practices that help organizations establish flexible work models, visible knowledge-sharing practices, and higher levels of community participation. Improved employee engagement, in turn, helps organizations reap productivity and performance benefits that assist in attaining strategic goals. The justification for E2.0, therefore, is largely being driven by:

• Innovation and growth strategies that require improvements to organizational productivity and performance
• A multi-generational workforce that is causing employers to invest in programs to improve their human resources (HR) and employee relations (e.g., strategic talent management)

“E2.0” as a catch phrase has merit and deserves attention from business and IT strategists. Beyond the meme, however, E2.0 represents new packaging for strategic collaboration and KM. Organizations often rely on collaboration and KM initiatives to attain innovation, growth, productivity, and performance goals. Collaboration and KM efforts can also help address needs of the informal organization when these efforts are properly linked to human capital management programs that improve HR and employee talent strategies.

Collaboration and Content Strategies Report

Enterprise 2.0: Collaboration and Knowledge Management Renaissance

The term “Enterprise 2.0” (E2.0) describes a collection of organizational and information technology (IT) constructs that help strategists better engage employees by enabling flexible work models, knowledge sharing, and community building. In turn, organizations reap productivity and performance benefits that also contribute toward growth and innovation objectives. In this Burton Group report, Principal Analyst Mike Gotta offers an assessment of E2.0 and how it reaffirms longstanding principles behind enterprise collaboration and knowledge management efforts. Over the past decade, such strategies have often been pursued to attain goals now being associated with E2.0 initiatives.

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Comments

[susan scrupski]

Hi Mike. Can't we at least see the major findings? That's fairly common for traditional analyst firms...

[Stephen Collins]

Mike, I'm with Susan. I'd really like to see this entire report, but I'm not going to spring for it unless I can see a thorough exec summary.

[Mike Gotta]

The best I can do at the moment is to include the detailed table of contents - see the information I just posted. Some of the things discussed take off on comments I've made here on E2.0 and aspects of the report will surface as blog postings over time as well.