632598256894

Productivity Tools
Workers expect to have productivity tools on their computers—desktop, laptop, notebook, netbook,
PDA. Today‟s workers expect to be able to use e-mail and to have access to e-mail when away from
the workplace. Having a word processor and presentation software is expected. Those workers who
deal with numbers expect to have access to spreadsheet software.
There is a cost associated with these expectations since normally an organization has to buy
individual copies of the software or buy a site license. The organization also has to support the
software (help desk questions, training, etc.) and upgrade the software with patches or new releases. In
addition, the organization has to evaluate whether to go through the time and cost of upgrading to new
versions.
There are other options beginning to emerge in the marketplace. One is to supply these tools as
software as a service (SaaS), which is discussed in more detail later in this chapter. This option does
not require a copy of the software to be on the user‟s computer. The software and the data reside on
the servers of the vendor of the software. Access is via the Internet. Data can be shared with others
within the organization. The downside of this option is that the organization is at the mercy of the
vendor and the vendor‟s servers. One of the more popular SaaS productivity tools is Google Docs,
which provides word processing, spreadsheet software, and presentation software. Google also offers
an online calendar and e-mail.
Another option is to use free (at time of publication) open source software, such as that offered by
OpenOffice.org, which is sponsored by Sun Microsystems, Novell, IBM, and Google, to name a few.
The suite of integrated products includes a word processor, spreadsheet software, presentation
software, drawing software, and a database tool. These products can open (and save) other file
formats, such as Microsoft‟s. Such software is loaded onto the user‟s computer either from a CD or
via a download from the Internet. A discussion of open source software can be found in the software
section of this chapter.
Knowledge Management
The notion of knowledge management (KM) continues to evolve as the power of technology evolves.
Knowledge management is a set of processes or practices that an organization embraces that identify,
create, store, and distribute knowledge—insights, experiences, best practices. The KM objectives are
to reduce redundant work, to avoid reinventing the wheel, and to retain and share intellectual capital.
Knowledge that is easily shared is explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is not easily shared; it
provides context and usually requires personal contact. Tacit knowledge often consists of norms that
workers don‟t always recognize. A major goal of KM is to transform tacit knowledge into explicit
knowledge—to codify it.
Early KM technologies included online expertise locators and document management systems. The
technology evolved with the development and use of collaborative software. Social computing tools