Exploring primary activities of the knowledge chain

Abstract

It is often claimed that knowledge management (KM) is important, or even essential, as a basis for competitiveness. The knowledge chain model was recently advanced as a first step in understanding the linkage between KM and organizational performance. Based on a general ontology of KM, this model identifies five primary and four secondary activities as focal points for enhancing competitiveness. Both anecdotes and survey results support the model. Here we further explore the primary KM activities found in the knowledge chain model by treating each as a class involving several distinct types of activity. A literature review yielded over 200 variations of the five primary activities. We consolidate these into 32 distinct activity types and organize them into the five primary activity classes. Within each class a typology of activity types is developed. The result is a more in-depth version of the knowledge chain model. It gives greater guidance to practitioners striving to incorporate KM into their organizations and their competitive strategies. It also suggests avenues for future research. Copyright # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTIONThe 21st century's knowledge economy is marked by such major developing trends as pervasive computing, mass customization, continuous learning, globalized competition, collaborative partnering, and virtual enterprises. It is an economy in which value flows from the technology and practices used to harness an organization's knowledge resources and knowledge-processing skills. Effectively managing knowledge has emerged as a critical source of competitive advantage (Dutta, 1997). Researchers in the field of sustainable competitive advantage contend that knowledge, which includes what the organization knows, how it uses what it knows, and how fast it can know something new, is the only factor that offers an organization a competitive edge (Prusak, 1996). Knowledge and its management are more valuable and more powerful than natural resources, big factories, or fat bankrolls (Stewart, 1997).Such assertions about competitiveness through knowledge management (KM) are consistent with results of empirical studies. A survey of 431 US and European organizations conducted by Business Intelligence and the Ernst and Young Center for Business Innovation reports 'that more active management of knowledge is possible and advisable-indeed, that it is critical if a firm is to gain and sustain a competitive advantage' (Ernst and Young, 1997). In the same study, 87% of the respondents describe their businesses as knowledge-intensive, indicating knowledge and its manipulation are critical to their competitiveness. Similarly, in a survey conducted by the Journal of Knowledge Management, over 90% of respondents perceived their organizations to be knowledge intensive (Chase, 1997). However, a mere 6% judged their organizations as being 'very effective' in leveraging knowledge to yield better performance. To systematically improve the leveraging of knowledge, it is essential to have a model that identifi...

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