Knowledge Management - Research Report Foreword There is little doubt that we have entered the knowledge economy where what organisations know is becoming more important than the traditional sources of economic power – capital, land, plant and labour – which they command. The value attributed by stock markets to companies in sectors such as software development and biotechnology far outweighs their tangible assets. Even in industries as traditional as manufacturing, companies are obtaining competitive advantage through technological know-how, product design skills, problem-solving expertise, personal creativity and the ability to innovate. Knowledge management is the discipline of capturing these knowledge-based competencies, storing and disseminating them for the benefit of the organisation as a whole. Much has been written about knowledge management. We wanted to find out what was really happening. We wanted to know exactly how far companies have gone in launching knowledge management initiatives and how strategic their approaches are. This report is the result of a survey carried out by Harris on our behalf. It shows that knowledge management is not a fad and is being taken seriously. It shows that companies are having difficulty in tackling knowledge management, but for those which are advanced in implementing knowledge management there are real benefits to be reaped. As we said in The Power of Knowledge: A Client Business Guide, "Knowledge management is not an abstract proposition for the future... it is a vital aspect of world-class management in today’s business environment." The survey findings set out in this report fully endorse that view. David Parlby Partner KPMG Consulting Contents: Executive summary Introduction and methodology Current state of knowledge management Cost of ignoring human knowledge Failure to store critical knowledge effectively Failure to exploit technological infrastructure Need for vision and strategy Investing in knowledge Full benefits for early adopters of knowledge The future Download the full report, 190K in .pdf format You will need PDF reader to read this article. You may download a free PDF reader by clicking upon the following button.