Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know

The definitive primer on knowledge management, this book will establish the enduring vocabulary and concepts and serve as the hands-on resource of choice for fast companies that recognize knowledge as the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. Drawing on their work with more than 30 knowledge-rich firms, the authors - experienced consultants with a track record of success-examine how all types of companies can effectively understand, analyze, measure, and manage their intellectual assets, turning corporate knowledge into market value. They consider such questions as: What key cultural and behavioral issues must managers address to use knowledge effectively? What are the best ways to incorporate technology into knowledge work? What does a successful knowledge project look like - and how do you know when it has succeeded? In the end, say the authors, the human qualities of knowledge - experience, intuition, and beliefs - are the most valuable and the most difficult to manage. Applying the insights of "Working Knowledge" is every manager's first step on that rewarding road to long-term success.

Thomas H. Davenport is the President’s Distinguished Chair at Babson College and a research fellow at the MIT Center for Digital Business. He is the author of the worldwide bestseller, Process Innovation (HBS Press, 1993) and Mission Critical (HBS Press, 2000). Laurence Prusak is a managing principal of the IBM Consulting Group in Boston and the worldwide competency leader in knowledge management for IBM. He formerly was a researcher/consultant at Ernst & Young and Mercer Management Consulting.