| The importance of organizational knowledge has been recognized for over fifty years. In recent years, organizations worldwide have embraced formal knowledge management initiatives as a way to create value from their intangible assets. Knowledge has proven so vital to organizational success that a new organizational form – knowledge-based firms – has emerged. With a slowdown in the world economy, the bursting of the technology bubble, and tighter budgets, the importance of leveraging existing knowledge and expertise has reached new highs. Knowledge management will remain a critical success factor for organizations as the economy recovers.
The purpose of this book is to survey some of the newest trends and findings in knowledge management. The series of chapters included in the book show the wide variety of directions in which knowledge management has evolved and illustrates the wide-ranging impact that knowledge management can effect for organizational success, thus emphasizing the continued importance of knowledge management for organizational success. Each chapter offers a discussion of some unique innovation, but common themes emerge as well. The themes center on methodologies and models, and tools for enhanced knowledge management as well as the competitive advantage that can be achieved by implementing knowledge management. |