Raising the Strategic Profile of Knowledge Management

Mike Zack, an associate professor at Northeastern University, College of Business Administration, threw out the concept of knowledge strategy. We should not just focus on what we know, but also on what we should know.

Knowledge is a barrier to entry into new markets. An enterprise needs to know what it needs to know to be successful in a particular marketplace.

There are internal strategic gaps are the difference between what the enterprise knows and what is should know. The external strategic gaps are the difference between what the enterprise knows and what its competition knows. Knowledge management should align its knowledge and learning initiatives to close these gaps.

He is putting together an interesting study on how knowledge can be a competitive advantage. The challenge was finding an industry that could be analyze to determine the impact of knowledge. He stumbled upon the wheat industry. Everyone has the same tractors, the same land and the same tools, so knowledge of how to use them must be a major differentiating factor.

He pointed out that when selling knowledge, knowledge management becomes a core technology and strategy.