Knowledge management and the competitive strategy of the firm

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge management (KM) has emerged as a strategy to improve organizational competitiveness. Our purpose is to identify the relationship between KM and the firm's competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

We review the existing literature on KM and strategy formulation. We utilize the resource‐based view approach as a lens for fitting KM with strategic planning. The concept of strategy and KM integration is introduced.

Findings

We relate KM strategies to business strategy through a thorough review of the literature.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should investigate the circumstances under which KM can create a sustainable competitive advantage within the framework of the RBV. Another area involves the investigation of the degree of integration between the competitive strategy and KM strategy.

Practical implications

A very useful source of information for practitioners to refine their thinking about KM and the firm strategic resources. It offers the practitioner a framework for understanding strategy concepts while illustrating how we can derive business results from KM.

Originality/value

This paper offers practical help for corporate executives and practitioners embarking in a KM initiative or program.

Citation

Halawi, L.A., McCarthy, R.V. and Aronson, J.E. (2006), "Knowledge management and the competitive strategy of the firm", The Learning Organization, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 384-397. https://doi.org/10.1108/09696470610667751