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The purpose of this paper is to identify recent trends in how the global knowledge workforce is changing and, in particular, organizing, on a massive scale. Knowledge workers have become highly mobile, with a distinctly global orientation.

These new trends are presented within the established four‐pillar framework for enterprise transformation. Particular emphasis is placed on the dissolution of traditional organizational boundaries (organization pillar), and creating, on a large scale, living, working and learning environments for attracting, retaining, and growing talent (learning pillar). Supporting infrastructure elements are also addressed (technology pillar).

Attracting, retaining, and growing talent is no longer an issue that can be addressed solely from the viewpoint of a single organization. Knowledge workers are highly mobile, and are tending to be more loyal to their peer communities than to an employer. This requires that organizations look beyond their own boundaries, and work together to create living, working, and learning environments that offer a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle. One way to accomplish this on a large scale is the development of knowledge cities, in which the information and knowledge architecture is at least as important as, and possibly more important than, the physical architecture.

In a knowledge economy, the value of human capital far outweighs more traditional, tangible forms, such as plant and equipment. Creating an ideal environment for knowledge workers is a formidable challenge. Yet it is a necessary step in making the transition to the enterprise of the future. The key to success is the understanding that an attractive work environment alone is not sufficient to attract, retain and grow an increasingly global, and mobile, knowledge workforce. A total environment that integrates key elements of living, working, and learning is needed. The four pillars framework will continue to evolve as a tool for designing these environments, especially on a large scale.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of the first enterprise of the future industry roundtable. The purpose of the roundtable was to identify the major areas of research needed to help organizations transform themselves in order to achieve sustainable performance in a flat world.

The agenda consisted of individual presentations by thought leaders, followed by a roundtable discussion.

The group concluded that in order to help organizations transform themselves, a focused research effort was required in the following four areas; transformation through the co‐creation of new business ecosystems and strategies; new, non‐hierarchical organizational designs; creating ideal environments for attracting, retaining, and growing talent; integrating a myriad of technology components into a unified infrastructure.

Enterprise transformation is an expensive and risky undertaking. These findings provide an initial set of the most critical research areas needed for successful transformation. Decision makers can use these results as a guide for planning their future research agenda.

The purpose of this paper is to examine new leadership approaches for competing in a flat world. Among the many demands placed on twenty‐first century leaders is the need to develop entirely new business strategies. Decision making must take into account many complex interactions and multiple scenarios. Yet strategic time horizons are becoming more compressed, requiring shorter planning cycles. Even if the right strategy is formulated, execution is often difficult. In addition, in today's dynamic market environment, both strategy and execution need to be quickly adjusted as conditions change.

The nine‐tiered framework presented has been successfully applied by the authors in a variety of settings. The approach integrates top‐down strategic planning with bottom‐up execution, all within the context of a knowledge‐based organization.

The paper finds that the ability of an organization to compete in a flat world is enhanced when all elements of the enterprise are in close alignment. A key role of the leader of the enterprise of the future is to create and maintain this alignment.

Through the application of this framework, organizations can improve in several ways that are critical to competing in a flat world. The main benefit is the improved speed and agility that comes from close organizational alignment. Tight coupling of organizational elements allows an enterprise to move closer to the goal of learning, innovating, and executing at the speed of change in the marketplace. In addition, forward‐looking organizations will benefit from: gaining the ability to identify critical knowledge gaps, opportunities, and risks; maximizing efficient and effective use of available resources; overcoming cultural barriers which inhibit execution and resist change; improving organizational performance through better measurement and tracking; and more effective leadership.

This paper sets out to describe the concept for the Enterprise of the Future, a project within the George Washington University Institute for Knowledge and Innovation. The purpose of the project is to lead the transformation to global virtual enterprise as the organization of choice for the twenty‐first century.

This paper covers the challenges people are facing; how the enterprise of the future will address those challenges; what the enterprise of the future will look like; what research needs to be undertaken; and who will be leading the research. Concludes with a call for participation to anyone interested in transforming the very notion of what is called enterprise.

The goal is to create the capability for organizations to learn, innovate and transform at a pace equal to, or greater than, the speed of change in the marketplace. Meeting the competitive challenges which lie ahead requires major changes in the way people live, learn and work, both individually and organizationally. A significant amount of effort will be devoted to work processes, technology integration, and the knowledge workforce.

Contains useful information on the enterprise of the future.

The purpose of this paper is to begin the process of identifying the attributes which characterize the enterprise of the future (EOF). An initial list of attributes which organizations will need to exhibit in order to compete in a flat world is presented. A formal definition of the EOF is also included.

The list of attributes was generated as a collaborative effort by members of the Enterprise of the Future Roundtable, and the EOF online community of knowledge management thought leaders and researchers.

The group concluded that the attributes which define a model EOF can be grouped into the previously validated four pillars of knowledge management: leadership, organization, learning, and technology. Although the underlying premise for the four pillars remains the same, recent research into the EOF has yielded new insights regarding the internal makeup of these pillars.

Twentieth century enterprise models are already proving inadequate for responding to the problems and issues of the knowledge era. The list of attributes developed here will serve as a guide to seek out and identify organizations which serve as illustrations of model EOF behaviors. The goal is to use the combined list of attributes and examples as a guide for helping organizations transform themselves into high‐performance, knowledge‐based organizations.

This paper aims to integrate and reflect on different ideas about the role of knowledge management (KM) technology that have been published in VINE. In effect, the paper seeks to relate, interpret, and synthesize various technology milestones discussed by various authors. It also aims to discusss the literature that describes technology as an “enabler”, but “not enough”.

This paper addresses the role and the importance of technology as appeared in articles in VINE about technology within the last three years. Different ideas from different authors are compared and contrasted with the general trend in technology advances in the field of KM.

Because of the immaturity of KM technology there is still disagreement about its real role in the KM lifecycle. There is an obvious lack of standardization and generalization about the role of inter‐ and/or intra‐organization technology transfer today. Although technology has made a quantum leap in the proportionality of the expressed tacit knowledge, many investigators still believe that technology is no more than an enabler.

This paper provides useful information as a result of summary and augmentation of different opinions discussed in this journal about technologies in the last three years.

This paper provides information to researchers and practitioners who need to know about the practical recent KM technology implementations.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the nationality and educational background diversity of directors serving on corporate boards and the firms’ corporate social performance (CSP).

This study measures nationality diversity by directors’ national citizenship and measures educational background diversity by countries from which they earned their undergraduate and post undergraduate degrees. It measures firms’ CSP using the MSCI ESG ratings. The study uses both univariate and multivariate analyses to empirically test the hypotheses.

Using a sample of US firms, the authors find that board nationality diversity and educational background diversity are positively associated with CSP. The findings suggest that improving director nationality diversity and educational background diversity could improve firms’ social performance.

This study shows that the increasing trend of foreign nationals in the US boards could shift the focus of US corporations to be more stakeholder-oriented.