The Knowledge‐Based Organization: An International Survey

Abstract

An international survey, sponsored by the Journal of Knowledge Management in association with the Best Practice Club™ and The Benchmarking Exchange, sought to explore the drivers and approaches to creating knowledge‐based organizations from the viewpoint of those practitioners who are actually responsible for implementing Knowledge Management as a business strategy. Three major conclusions have emerged from the study. Whilst organizations recognize the importance of creating, managing and transferring knowledge, so far they have been unable to translate this competitive need into organizational strategies. Secondly, successful Knowledge Management implementation is mainly linked to “soft” issues, such as organizational culture and people. Finally, most organizations are struggling to effectively use Knowledge Management tools and techniques. The study reveals that although most of the survey group understood the commercial or institutional imperative to implement Knowledge Management as an organizational strategy, few benchmarks of best practice have yet to emerge.