In today’s knowledge driven economy, knowledge is considered to be the key factor in defining the success of an organization. We have learned that knowledge is residing in the informal network of the organization. Hence, to improve performance, it is the informal knowledge network that should be examined and developed. For this purpose, social network analysis is increasingly applied in business contexts. This is, however, a new domain, which is still in development. This paper aims to aid in this development by researching how representative knowledge networks can be revealed in organizations. While surveying is a common first option to capture an organizational network, this technique may not always be suitable. Communication sources (e.g. e-mail) may provide an alternative, however, we do not know to what extent these sources can represent the actual knowledge network. This paper examines a Dutch IT services organization. Here, a web-survey among the employees baselines the knowledge network, which is compared to 3 communication networks from the same organization, captured by means of e-mail, telephone and SMS (Short Message Service) communication (also known as text messaging or texting). A comparison is made by means of correlating the network matrices and by comparing essential network properties. Findings show that only the e-mail network is significantly representative for the baselined knowledge network. This exercise is exploratory in nature as only one organization is examined, but comprehensive with regard to the richness of data that is available for examination. From our findings we gain insight in the extent to which networks, captured from e-mail, telephone and SMS archives can represent an organizational knowledge network.

Recently, a new theory emerged in the field of Second Generation Knowledge Management. This theory is labeled ‘New Knowledge Management ’ and was introduced by McElroy (2003). The theory is new to the extent that it brings together several known concepts concerning knowledge management in a unique combination. In its essence, the theory consists of fourteen policies that organizations should apply to improve performance. More precisely, the theory claims that application of the fourteen policies leads to corporate sustainability and sustainable innovation. However, this claim has not been empirically validated yet. In this paper, we present a research model for validating this claim. The empirical validation of the claim has been conducted using survey data collected from 30 organizations. Results from statistical analysis indicates that application of New Knowledge Management indeed is present in more sustainable organizations, but not in innovative organizations, as proposed by its claim. In addition, it was found that corporate sustainability also heavily depends on the external orientation of organizations. This implies that the application of NKM theory is an important but not the only critical condition for organizations to obtain a sustainable position.