In yesterday’s post, I pondered as to how Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 technologies and methodologies may help pull well-networked companies and well-networked individuals through the headwinds of today’s turbulent economy.

Harvard’s Andrew McAfee is also pondering how Enterprise 2.0 may make a difference, and has just posted a thought-leadership piece on how the struggling US auto companies could theoretically employ E2.0 to help emerge from their current slump.

He assumes, hypothetically, that one of the Big 3 American auto companies was taken over tomorrow by “enlightened and aggressive new leadership whose only goals are to restore the company to operational and financial excellence” — leadership that “believes firmly in the power of IT to help businesses achieve their goals and differentiate themselves in the marketplace.”

The new management is likely to be unfamiliar with the company’s current IT assets, but needs to get back on its feet as soon as possible. McAfee says the answer lies in turning to the collective wisdom of the workforce and partners — in fact, the company is likely awash with knowledge and expertise. The key is to be able to tap into that collective wisdom.

This is where Enterprise 2.0 tools come in:

“I’d roll out as quickly as possible a single integrated suite of emergent social software platforms (ESSPs) to all employees of the company. This suite would include blogs, wikis (including collaborative document production tools like Google Docs), discussion boards, SNS, a microblogging tool like Twitter or Yammer, a tagging utility, prediction markets, ways to vote on good content (a la Digg) and ways to give praise or good karma to particularly helpful colleagues. Lots of vendors both big and small are working to develop such suites; for now, I’m going to assume that a complete one exists.”

In rolling out these tools, McAfee says it’s important that “the tools be trivially easy to use, primarily by copying the look, feel, and user interface of the most popular Web 2.0 resources.” Plus, he adds, all content should be “cross-linkable, taggable, and Diggable.” Plus, training for use of the tools would be available to all, and that “there be few initial rules or policy statements beyond ‘use your judgment’ and ‘highlight any behavior you find inappropriate.’”

In economic downturns, management’s reflexive approach has been to cut, cut, cut — and chop away the very knowledgebase that could make a great company in the long run.  Enterprise 2.0 provides for a way for participation at all levels. Many of the best cost-saving and business-growth ideas come from the trenches, not from the executive suites.