Competitive Knowledge Management

Citation

Chan, C.C.A. (2002), "Competitive Knowledge Management", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 352-353. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2002.23.6.352.2

Competitive advantage and organizational success are the two often‐cited outcomes of an effectively managed knowledge process. Observing the increasing hype about knowledge management (KM), many management consultants and researchers have jumped on the bandwagon. Accordingly, numerous articles and books on the topic have appeared. These literatures often adopt a prescriptive stance and provide practitioners with generic “solutions” to their complex problems. Usually these prescriptions lack a solid empirical foundation.

A major purpose of an introduction is to convince the reader why the subject matter is worth reviewing. In this section, Bahra attempts to argue about the development of the knowledge economy and why KM is important. However, the author has not developed a strong case to justify the importance of KM.

The book is divided into 15 chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the idea of the old economy. This chapter basically touches on the effects of globalization, intellectual capital, international politics, socio‐demographic changes, and the classical economic rationale of Adam Smith. While most of the examples and literature relate to the old economy, there are others that are sketchy. Certain readers might find it very difficult to relate the contrast between Vajpayee’s (India’s Prime Minister) announcement of India’s nuclear capability in 1998 and Oppenheimer’s condemnation of his own creation of the atomic bomb in 1945 with the idea of the old economy or KM. Following this obscure piece of information is a criticism of President George W. Bush’s inability to recall the name of the Prime Minister of India, which leads to a philosophical twist with questions such as “Are the souls of the Indians equal in value to the souls of the Americans, or the Chinese or the Russians, or even Englishmen and women?” (p. 7).

In Chapter 2, a reasonable contrast between the old and new economy is provided. This chapter reflects on the relevance of the changing nature of our global economy, business structure, increasing use of information technology, innovation, and trade blocks for the new economy and KM.

Chapter 3 discusses the new work models. Diminishing loyalty, commitment and trust of employees are highlighted. Shifts in organizational demography are also presented. Next, a contrast of knowledge workers and knowledge leaders is provided, and strategies for facilitating the development of certain leadership qualities are discussed. Indeed, the expected composition, knowledge, behavior, and persona of the contemporary workforce are different from those of the baby boomers.

Chapter 4 focuses on areas such as information technology, human resources, finance, marketing, intellectual capital, intellectual property, and training and development. A desperate attempt to link these concepts to KM is made with strings of quotes and by claiming that “all these areas combined may be termed as ‘knowledge management”’ (p. 67).

Chapter 5 covers the difference between KM and intellectual capital (IC). The chapter starts off with a comparison of the various definitions of KM and IC. Next, a look at the philosophy underpinning IC is undertaken. The so‐called “stepping stones” to IC are conceived to be comprised of six factors: learning organization; conversation management; innovation; knowledge management; core competencies; and invisible assets. Although a sizable amount of attention is paid to the learning organization concept, the absence of some influential thinkers like Edmondson, Huber, Schein, and Senge in the discussion is surprising. Unfortunately, the other “stepping stones” have received considerably less attention than the learning organization.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 deal with the creation, sharing, measurement of knowledge and perception of outcomes. The work of Nonaka and Takeuchi is heavily borrowed for the discussion of knowledge creation and sharing. Various suggestions and models for measuring intangible assets and benefits are provided. Notable approaches such as the balanced scorecard, 360 degree appraisal, and benchmarking are also mentioned. The key success factors for KM come from the work of Breu and Smith.

Chapter 9 takes a look at some key reasons why firms fail. The ideas are mainly drawn from the work of Birley, who investigated the failure of 486 independent owner‐managed businesses. Notwithstanding the nature of the sample, the causes for these owners’ business failure are likely to be relevant for other types of organization. There is also some discussion about the failure of dot.com companies.

Stabilization strategy is the theme of Chapters 10, 11 and 12. Chapter 10 includes various initiatives and processes on how an organization could maintain market position. Chapter 11 – “What to do if it all goes wrong” – is essentially a dash of crisis management and an analysis of what the dot.com companies should have done to save themselves. The importance of storytelling in business and its contribution to KM are illustrated with numerous case examples and are covered in Chapter 12.

The inter‐relationships between KM, the new economy and competitive intelligence are emphasized in Chapter 13. Next, Bahra attempts to marry the concepts of KM and human resource management in Chapter 14. The final chapter, Chapter 15, projects that an increasing number of organizations will adopt certain practices, discussed throughout the book, to enhance their competitiveness.

Overall, the book has failed to capture the vibrancy of KM. The various issues related to KM are handled in a superficial manner. From time to time, Bahra would conjure up terms or examples without paying much attention to explain them. In essence, this book is a broad brush of KM. There is a tendency for the author to be long‐winded. The so‐called “original case studies from leading experts” are merely answers to interview questions, which are provided by executives from several multinational corporations, consulting firms, and government departments. Managers, human resource professionals and those who are new to the area of KM might welcome this book.