The Culture of the Knowledge Advantage (K-Adv): A Holistic Strategic Approach to the Management of Knowledge

Abstract

This chapter introduces a concept ‘the knowledge advantage’ (K-Adv) that describes a model in which knowledge leadership provides the setting in which an organisation’s knowledge vision can be developed and activated. This is supported by a people infrastructure that allows people to effectively create and share knowledge. This infrastructure is further supported by an information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure. This chapter also provides examples of how the K-Adv can be developed, and several tools are illustrated for this purpose. These include using a soft systems methodology (SSM) approach as part of developing the knowledge leadership vision and how the K-Adv can be used for benchmarking at both a course and fine-grained level. The contribution that this chapter makes is to provide some strategic and practical tactical tools that companies can use to develop their competitive advantage.