In this special issue of Trends in Communication management scholars share their ideas and research findings about the use of the community concept in the areas of knowledge management, organizational learning, innovation, and virtual learning. This fine collection of "community of practice" papers shows a variety of perspectives and applications on a new organizational phenomenon.

Port Inter-Organizational Information Systems aims at providing insights into the ways global sea ports are challenged by the need for managing complex information flows, given the developments in global supply chains. We argue that special port IT capabilities are needed to address these challenges by sharing information and planning and executing container transport in a collaborative way, establishing inter-organizational information architectures, and coordinating interests to successfully implement the technological infrastructures. We focus on the role of port community systems that support port communities in meeting the demands of global supply chains. Port Inter-Organizational Information Systems has a multidisciplinary nature and should be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in several fields, including information management, information systems, operations management, supply chain management, and technology management. The book combines a number of chapters where concepts are explained, while referring to a large repository of case studies provided in an appendix. Also, an introduction to the container transport network is provided in another appendix.