A Literature Review on Web 2.0

In its February 2008 issue, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) classified “collaborative” technologies (social networking sites, virtual worlds, multi-player games, the peer‐to‐peer economy) as one of the 20 most important developments in the business world. A study from The McKinsey Quarterly carried out on managers in June 2008 shows a very significant increase in the use of Web 2.0 applications within companies over the last 12 months (blogs, RSS feeds, wiki platforms …). The proliferation of articles in the press, media and on the Internet demonstrates a real interest in the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Although we may still be at the exploratory stage, Web 2.0 seems to offer interesting possibilities when it comes to improving organizations and their different processes. In the context of this research carried out on behalf of the CIGREF, we have chosen to carry out a literature review in order to better understand the Web 2.0 concept as it applies to organizations. In the first part, we will therefore seek to determine what the term Web 2.0 covers from the point of view of technologies and information systems using a typology based on functionalities. Then, we will propose a detailed synthesis of the review of the literature on Web 2.0 in Management Sciences, demonstrating the transversal dimension of the concept and its socioorganizational logic