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Economic forces, competitive pressures and technological advances have created an environment within which firms have developed new ways of organizing (e.g. virtual work settings) and managing their resources (e.g. knowledge management) in order to maintain and improve firm performance. Extant research has highlighted the challenges associated with managing knowledge in virtual settings. However, researchers are still struggling to provide effective guidance to practitioners in this field. We believe that a better understanding of individual virtual competency is a potential avenue for managing the complexity of knowledge transfer in virtual settings. In particular, we suggest that optimal knowledge transfers can be achieved by individuals armed with the right personal capabilities and skills for virtual work, particularly when those knowledge transfers are emergent, bottom-up and cannot be specified a priori. The virtual competency exhibited by individuals can be the key to overcoming the constraints of knowledge transfers with such characteristics because underlying competency can facilitate effective action in unfamiliar and novel situations. In this conceptual research, we develop a theoretical model of individual virtual competence and describe its role in the communication process, which underpins effective knowledge transfer in virtual settings. Additionally, we consider the antecedent role that prior experience in virtual activity plays in aiding workers to develop virtual competence, which in turn engenders effective knowledge transfer. We conclude with implications for future research and for practicing managers.i sj_318 571..594

The expectation on today's information technology (IT) professionals to remain technically competent constitutes a significant source of stress. We examine how IT professionals experience and cope with the threat of technical obsolescence. Interestingly, not all IT professionals consider technology change a threat to their technical competence; some viewed updating as enjoyable and pursued learning for its own sake. However, most viewed the relentless demand to update their technical skills as stressful and used a variety of coping strategies to address this threat. Using this cognitive approach to technical obsolescence, we describe implications for managerial practice and delineate a direction for future research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.