Abstract

Today, there is a growing recognition by researchers and practitioners about the importance of managing knowledge as a critical source for competitive advantage. Various assertions about competitiveness through knowledge management (KM) are consistent with results of empirical studies and lessons learned on the knowledge highways and byways. In spite of these macro-level contentions and success stories, there has been little investigation of a systematic means for studying connections between KM activity and competitiveness. This paper advances a knowledge chain model that identifies and characterizes KM activities an organization can focus on to achieve competitiveness. The model is analogous to Porter's value chain and is grounded in a descriptive KM framework developed via a Delphi-study involving international KM experts. It is comprised of five primary activities that an organization's knowledge processors perform in manipulating knowledge resources, plus four secondary activities that support and guide their performance. Each activity is discussed in detail, including examples. Evidence is provided from the literature illustrating each activity's role in adding value to an organization to increase its competitiveness through improved productivity, agility, reputation, and innovation. In conclusion, we present some observations about avenues for future research to extend, test, and apply the model in business practices.

Author Keywords: Competitiveness; Knowledge chain; Knowledge management activities; Model

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Competitive advantage and porter's value chain model

3. Knowledge management: a brief background

4. Overview of the knowledge chain model

5. Primary knowledge chain activities and competitiveness

5.1. Knowledge acquisition

5.1.1. Examples of knowledge acquisition

5.1.2. Competitiveness via knowledge acquisition: some evidence

5.2. Knowledge selection

5.2.1. Examples of knowledge selection

5.2.2. Competitiveness via knowledge selection: some evidence

5.3. Knowledge generation

5.3.1. Examples of knowledge generation

5.3.2. Competitiveness via knowledge generation: some evidence

5.4. Knowledge internalization

5.4.1. Examples of knowledge internalization

5.4.2. Competitiveness via knowledge internalization: some evidence

5.5. Knowledge externalization

5.5.1. Examples of knowledge externalization

5.5.2. Competitiveness of knowledge externalization: some evidence

6. Secondary knowledge chain activities and competitiveness

6.1. Knowledge measurement

6.1.1. Examples of knowledge measurement

6.1.2. Competitiveness via knowledge measurement: some evidence

6.2. Knowledge control

6.2.1. Examples of knowledge control

6.2.2. Competitiveness via knowledge control: some evidence

6.3. Knowledge coordination

6.3.1. Examples of knowledge coordination

6.3.2. Competitiveness via knowledge coordination: some evidence

6.4. Knowledge leadership

6.4.1. Examples of knowledge leadership

6.4.2. Competitiveness via knowledge leadership: some evidence

7. Conclusions

References

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-606-257-5236; fax: +1-606-257-8031; email: cwhols@pop.uky.edu