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Knowledge Application 207

task, they can be considered a signature of the task, or evidence that the user is per-
forming this task.

Knowledge Application at the Group and Organizational Levels

Knowledge management systems (KMSs) are tools aimed at supporting KM. KMSs
evolved from information management tools that integrated many aspects of com-
puter-supported collaborative work environments (CSCW) with information and
document management systems ( Ganesan, Edmonds, and Spector 2001 ; Greif 1988 ;
Kling 1991 ). Key characteristics of KMSs are support for:
• Communication among various users
• Coordination of users ’ activities
• Collaboration among user groups on the creation, modifi cation, and dissemination
of artifacts and products
• Control processes to ensure integrity and to track the progress of projects
Systems that support KM provide specifi c functions related to communication
(e-mail and discussion forums); coordination (shareable calendars and task lists); col-
laboration (shareable artifacts and workspaces); and control (internal audit trails and
automatic version control). User-centered KMSs contribute to an organizational culture
of sharing by providing a sense of belonging to a community of users and by support-
ing reciprocity among users ( Marshall and Rossett 2000 ). KMSs extend the perspective
of employees as knowledge workers by providing them with the means to create
knowledge and to actively contribute to a shared and dynamic body of knowledge.
KMSs provide support for many information functions, including:
• Acquiring, indexing, capturing, and archiving
• Finding and accessing
• Creating and annotating
• Combining, collating, and modifying
• Tracking ( Edmonds and Pusch 2002 )

These KMS functions allow multiple individuals to organize meaningful activities
around shared and reusable artifacts to achieve specifi c goals. In short, KMSs address
the distributed nature of work and expertise ( Salomon 1993 ).
Within business and industry, KM technology is being used to support organiza-
tional learning ( Morecroft and Sterman 1994 ; Senge 1990 ). The dynamics of the global