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Challenging the Knowledge Management Mystique


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1 Hasan School of Business Colorado State University – Pueblo 2200 Bonforte Blvd. Pueblo, CO 81001-4901
     

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A central tenet in the knowledge management (KM) literature argues physical and financial assets are rather limited in their rent-generating capacity versus the firm's stocks of "intellectual capital" for the sustained creation of wealth. Firms such as Buckman Laboratories, Dow Chemical and Skandia are often touted for the vast wealth of knowledge they purportedly possess, and the systems and processes they have established for capturing and growing this knowledge. However, little empirical evidence exists suggesting that knowledge management is a profitable enterprise. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature by empirically testing the linkage between firm performance and the knowledge management initiatives of a sample of Fortune 500 firms.

Keywords

Knowledge Management, Financial Performance, Intellectual Capital
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  • Challenging the Knowledge Management Mystique

Abstract Views: 415  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Jose Castillo
Hasan School of Business Colorado State University – Pueblo 2200 Bonforte Blvd. Pueblo, CO 81001-4901

Abstract


A central tenet in the knowledge management (KM) literature argues physical and financial assets are rather limited in their rent-generating capacity versus the firm's stocks of "intellectual capital" for the sustained creation of wealth. Firms such as Buckman Laboratories, Dow Chemical and Skandia are often touted for the vast wealth of knowledge they purportedly possess, and the systems and processes they have established for capturing and growing this knowledge. However, little empirical evidence exists suggesting that knowledge management is a profitable enterprise. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature by empirically testing the linkage between firm performance and the knowledge management initiatives of a sample of Fortune 500 firms.

Keywords


Knowledge Management, Financial Performance, Intellectual Capital

References