Preparing the Next Generation of Innovators through Collaboration - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 71

and can collaborate to meet a common goal. This
new model requires that employees of these firms
develop different skills, in particular, the ability
to collaborate with colleagues across a wide va-
riety of circumstances to achieve innovation. The
authors point out that “despite this need, there is
little guidance on how to develop or deploy this
ability” (MacCormack, 2007, p. i).
One document from km Sciences, Inc. (2006)
for project managers shows how this company
focuses on collaboration as a method for increasing
the value of their knowledge. The authors point
out the problem today with too much information,
people not being able to get the information they
need, people not being able to find an expert, and
the explosion of new media tools. They focus on
“knowledge collaboration” as a vital solution
to these problems. The document explains this
concept in the following paragraph:

monitor and meet customer demand, they create
business plans with the latest and most accurate
data and begin to develop and measure a com-
mon set of metrics. With integrated processes,
companies are better able to synchronize supply
and demand, improve revenue, decrease costs, and
increase customer satisfaction (Wells, 2007).
Even in the construction industry, which tends
to adopt a conservative stance towards techno-
logical change, they are realizing that a wide
range of operational and competitive advantages
can be gained from implementing innovative
collaborative technologies (Micheletti, 2007). A
construction industry brief shows the importance
of transactional networks and IT networking
services that promote internal integration of
company workflows while improving external
collaborative processes in order to coordinate
activities with third-party stakeholders and agents
around construction projects. These techniques
can successfully address most of the challenges
affecting the construction industry today, such
as its geographic dispersion, demanding com-
munication requirements, and complex project
management needs. Electronic collaboration tools
(such as email, group calendaring and scheduling,
etc.) can increase the productivity of the construc-
tion employees and effectively change the way
in which construction projects are managed and
implemented (Micheletti, 2007).
How are students being prepared to make the
transition to this 21 st Century workplace with the
demands of constant collaboration and other skills
that were not readily observed in the classrooms
over the last 10 years? The Partnership for the
21 st Century has outlined the skill sets that today's
students need to be successful in the 21 st century
(Partnership for 21 st Century Skills, 2004). They
believe that educators must go beyond the usual
basic academics and intertwine these skills into
all of the content areas. In order for students to
be successful in the 21 st Century workplace, they
need to master three main sets of skills; creativ-
ity and innovation, critical thinking and problem

Why focus on Knowledge Collaboration? Who can
assign a value to knowledge that is sitting static
in a repository? However, the minute a worker is
seeking knowledge, as soon as two workers are
sharing knowledge, whenever several workers
are debating and presenting; knowledge quickly
attains value. Therefore, we see that the crucial
element to defining value in knowledge is when
it is in action, used by people. We see the value
magnified when it can be utilized by a group in
dynamic ways. This is what we would call col-
laboration. (km Sciences, Inc., 2006, p. 1)

Many companies do some form of sales and
operations planning to synchronize market data
with production output. Their planning, in the past
has often been insular and static, resulting in the
sales and operations planning becoming almost
dysfunctional, lacking the communication and the
insight into market demands (Wells, 2007). Today,
companies are taking a more strategic approach
through the collaboration of key departments. As
the company's marketing, finance, sales, and op-
erations departments collaborate to continuously