Article at a glance:

Mapping the value of employee collaboration

• Falling communications costs, globalization, and the increasing specialization of knowledge-based work are making collaboration within and among organizations increasingly important.
• Yet few companies understand or know how to manage the intracompany networks in which collaboration typically occurs.
• A few leading companies are beginning to map their networks of relationships, to analyze the economic costs and benefits that key interactions create, and to identify value-creating interventions.
• Successful interventions help companies to reduce complexity, redefine roles, and allocate financial, physical, and human resources more efficiently.