Managing Knowledge Networks

'This book is about making the jump from IT to KM; from engineering potential information flow, to managing effective information flow. No one can know all the information relevant to our work and interests. We rely on friends, colleagues, and productive accidents for cutting-edge information and for blinders to information it is socially acceptable to ignore. Our points of access are connected in a network around us, and Managing Knowledge Networks provides frameworks for surviving and thriving in that network. Johnson draws on his years of research on human communication to speak simply with clarity, coverage, and examples. Addressed to academic and practical audiences, this book would be equally useful for an upper-division college course, a graduate seminar, or a manager responsible for information access and flow in the organization.' Ronald Burt, University of Chicago

'What makes this a great book is its comprehensive treatment of an interdisciplinary topic - knowledge management - through a laser-like focus on one fascinating issue - knowledge networks. Nurturing them, monitoring them, diversifying them, and using them will be the knowledge professional's toolkit in the coming decades. More and more innovation is not the answer to our organizational challenges. Value-added processes must come into play. David Johnson provides a terrific perspective for business leaders and organizational researchers - knowledge networks - and clarifies how they work in relation to innovation, organizational learning, and work performance.' James W. Dearing, Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Cancer Communication Research Center, and Center for Health Dissemination and Implementation Research

'By marrying knowledge management to networks, Johnson derives important insights about the social and relational nature of knowledge. His dynamic view of knowledge and its management in knowledge networks is both innovative and insightful. This book will hold great interest for scholars and practitioners alike.' Marshall Scott Poole, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

'David Johnson's book presents a comprehensive examination of how information and communication networks have evolved overtime in personal, work, and broader environmental settings. What is unique about this book is that it taps into and synthesizes years of important research in communication network analysis and applies it to current day thinking and problems. This book is a must-read for any one interested in studying networks.' Alex M. Susskind, Cornell University