Developing a Knowledge Management Portal

Abstract

Knowledge management has been heralded as an important component of a successful business strategy, yet how does a company implement a knowledge management (KM) strategy that provides a return? Since the advent of KM, the academic literature and practitioner’s guides have been awash with KM strategies that guarantee substantial economic returns. Unfortunately, these KM systems also require a substantial initial investment, and hence it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify expenditure on knowledge-based activities (Ellinger, Ellinger, Yang, & Howton, 2002). Academic research has shown that knowledge is the main asset of an organization and provides the sole means by which an organisation can innovate to create a sustainable competitive advantage (Kandampully, 2002). The pharmaceutical industry is a prominent example of such a knowledge driven environment, where the complex processes of drug development are viewed by many to be an ideal environment in which to derive tangible value from the adoption of a knowledge management strategy (Gunnlaugsdottir, 2003).