A model for assessing organizational knowledge inventory

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical model that can quantitatively and vividly measure the current capability of enterprises by evaluating their existing knowledge inventory.

Design/methodology/approach

Knowledge management starts from assessing the current position of enterprises, visioning future intention, and then specifying knowledge objectives and formulating knowledge strategies. Along with this process, a critical component that must be realized in order to assist management in determining knowledge objective and strategies is the assessment of existing knowledge inventory.

Findings

The paper finds that enterprises can better position themselves by deciding realistic objectives and formulating achievable strategies.

Research limitations/implications

The force that drives human history from agricultural age to industrial age, information age, and finally to the knowledge age was innovation, and the crucial element determining the level of products and services innovation lies in people. In other words, all innovations come from human resources, and knowledge enables human beings to be creative. Especially, in this global era with stiff competition, enterprises should create, manage and preserve knowledge better than their competitors in order to maintain competitive advantage, and therefore remain ever‐lasting existence.

Practical implications

Previous investigations mainly employed qualitative methods, such as questionnaire survey and in‐depth interviews, to explore knowledge management performance of enterprises.

Originality/value

The paper shows that by categorizing the knowledge inventory in terms of knowledge depth and width, enterprises would be able to formulate suitable knowledge strategies of accumulation, widening, deepening, or strengthening and specify proper learning strategies to bridge the knowledge gap to cope with the competition.

Citation

Wei, C., Chen, S. and Lee, Y. (2009), "A model for assessing organizational knowledge inventory", Kybernetes, Vol. 38 No. 9, pp. 1491-1507. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920910991487