Coming in 2008!

Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy

Editors: Janet Salmons, Ph.D. & Lynn Wilson, Ph.D.

The Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy will provide a cross-sector, interdisciplinary exploration of collaboration practices. The handbook will examine structure, organization, technology tools and leadership practices that characterize successful collaboration in and across the fields of education, public policy, and business.

In this book we highlight the electronic aspects, applications and issues surrounding collaboration and organizational synergy. The focus of the handbook will be on the set of strategic, cross-cultural, team and technical skills required to collaborate and achieve organizational synergy in the age of the Internet and a digitally connected 21^st century global society.

Editors Janet Salmons, Ph.D. and Lynn Wilson, Ph.D. will draw on their scholarly and practical experience with inter-organizational and intra-organizational collaborations in the fields covered in the handbook. Chapters will be solicited from diverse researchers. View an introduction, see the call for chapters or contact us at synergy@vision2lead.com.

Information Science Reference has tentatively scheduled publication of print and electronic editions of the book in 2008.

What do we mean by electronic collaboration and organizational synergy?

The word collaborate has its origins in the Latin word collaborare, "to work together.” Contemporary theorists and researchers consider collaboration to be a situation in which stakeholders come together to act or decide on issues of mutual interest using shared rules, norms, and structures.

The working definition for this book is: collaboration is an interactive process that engages two or more participants who work together to achieve outcomes they could not accomplish independently. Since participants typically work in an organizational context, other enabling or obstructing factors may exist. They are explored through the study of organizational synergy, which is defined for this book as: an open, integrated process (operational, procedural and cultural) that fosters collaboration and encourages participants to expand connections beyond typical boundaries and achieve innovative outcomes.