Theory and practice in knowledge management

A smart and bold entrepreneur or manager came up with a great idea and gave it a try. It worked. The idea was duplicated at other locations to produce more evidence for its value. The experiences inspired and fueled development of a new theory, which in in turn inspired practicing managers to adopt the new thinking in their department or company. This dynamic, two-way interaction process goes on until everybody seems to have taken it for granted. Then, it disappeared from the public scene. From business strategy researchers, knowledge as a strategic asset and knowledge management as a crucial value-creating activity have been taken for granted. However, a close look at their discussion quickly reveals much impact of km on most of the components in their frameworks.

This book, The new age of innovation, does not carry km in its title. Yet, km lies at the core of everything. Knowledge is the input and output of business processes. ICT infrastructure facilitates or even enables knowledge creation, dissemination, and application. Value-creating business models are driven by km activities. Innovative business strategies essentially encompasses innovative km activities.