Managing knowledge

Diplomarbeit, die am 05.06.2001 erfolgreich an einer Internationale Wirtschaftshochschule in Niederlande im Fachbereich International Management eingereicht wurde. Abstract: "In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge." Peter Drucker (1953) Companies like Microsoft, Netscape, Coca-Cola and Yahoo can be found under the top U.S. companies with the highest market values in 1999. The market value represents the measure of value that the investors and markets associate with the company. However, these companies are not valued for their tangible assets (buildings, inventory, etc.), they are valued for something which cannot be shown on a balance sheet: their intangibles. These include brand recognition, Patents, customer loyalty, innovative business ideas, past achievements, etc. These companies are valued for the knowledge they possess. However, knowledge is of little value, if it cannot be found when needed. Therefore, a successful knowledge management concept is of crucial importance for these companies. The knowledge management market is growing rapidly and it will continue to advance over the next years. Knowledge management is still a relatively young field with new concepts emerging constantly. Most knowledge management initiatives have focused entirely on changes in tools and technologies, such as intranets and Lotus Notes. But knowledge management is more complex: it covers everything the company does to make knowledge available to everyone. The twenty-first century gives companies the tools and connectivity to easily obtain, share, and act on information quickly. Knowledge management uses these possibilities and recent studies showed that companies gained a competitive advantage by implementing it. According to Accenture research, a well implemented knowledge management process can improve employee productivity by an average of 60%. Ofte