FACILITATING+TECHNOLOGIES

The language we use to communicate in the modern workplace is dramatically different from any our parents might have known. From Google to blogs to wikis, we have added not only a new vocabulary, but also a new way of doing business, and a new understanding of the value of collaboration mutual support.
 * FACILITATING TECHNOLOGIES**

Not long ago, asking a question meant admitting the limits of one’s knowledge. Those who had the information had the potential to hold the organization hostage. Those who were “in the know” had the ability to write their own ticket, using knowledge strategically and for their own benefit. Now, using facilitating technologies, everyone has at her fingertips a wealth of answers and research tools that not only level the playing field but open new avenues of creativity.

This new language comes at a time when the world is made smaller and previously closed societies open up in the wake of the invisible network of connection generated by the worldwide web. Insofar as a society has access to the Internet, cultural barriers can be removed with far less resistance. One can research culture-specific phenomena without worrying about offending anyone. The workplace becomes a far less confusing place because everyone has equal access to information.

To this end, we ask:

(1) What kinds of electronic means do multicultural team members use to develop, exchange, and disseminate data and information?

(2) Which factors affect the quality and outcome of such processes? And,

(3) How do these technologies affect the transfer of research information within and by multicultural teams?

Early workplace technologies were used both to locate expertise and to manage information storage and retrieval. “Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular [|Lotus Notes] ), KM technologies expanded in the mid-1990s. Subsequent KM efforts leveraged [|semantic] technologies for [|search] and retrieval and the development of [|e-learning] tools for [|communities of practice] [|[14]] ( [|Capozzi 2007] ).
 * TECHNOLOGIES**

Access to on-line resources by users at all levels of the organization has resulted in the development of thousands of applications to increase efficiency and communication in the workplace, but insofar as multicultural, geographically separated work units are concerned, it is the other collaborative tools such as bookmarks, blogs and wikis that truly improve organizational collaboration. These technologies also allow for more individual responsiveness, creativity and community.

Development of [|Web2.0] added new dimension to knowledge management process. A bit of background from Wikipedia is helpful here:

“The term "Web 2.0" (2004–present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive [|information sharing], [|interoperability] , [|user-centered design] , [|[1]] and [|collaboration] on the [|World Wide Web]. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, [|hosted services], [|web applications] , [|social-networking sites] , [|video-sharing sites] , [|wikis] , [|blogs] , [|mashups] , and [|folksonomies]. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website [|content], in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them (web2.0)

Web-based tools, such as [|wiki], make it possible for employees to contribute and access information to and from a central repository aiding in the advancement of knowledge exchange.