The Role of Knowledge Creation in Competitive Advantage

Abstract

The ability of an organization to better utilize its current stock of knowledge or position itself to identify opportunities to create knowledge faster than its competitors is key to increasing organizational wealth. Knowledge can be defined as that core asset that adds wealth to an organization and when properly implemented, results in new or improved products or services. Opining on the core competency model (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994) and on the concept of intellectual bandwidth (Nunamaker et al., 2001), the author suggests that an organization can enhance its performance and increase its competitive standing by making a careful assessment of its intellectual bandwidth for knowledge creation. In this chapter, the key enablers that influence the level of knowledge creation that occurs within an organization are identified. The chapter lists the organizational characteristics that will help ensure the high level of intellectual bandwidth needed for knowledge creation.