Knowledge and its Management

No world-class enterprise will be able to grow and thrive if it is not being driven by a constantly updated pool of knowledge. Such corporations are marked by their business leaders’ ability to define a business vision for the firm which encompasses deep knowledge of the short, medium and longer term aspects of global, competitive and consumer elements. Such knowledge-based business vision provides a starting point to define specific business goals and objectives. Inevitably, such a knowledge-driven process generates innumerable opportunities and forces a business to choose priorities. The choice and management of priorities then becomes the joint task of business and R&D managers. While the business managers remain accountable for the performance of the bottom line, in this process the R&D managers’ accountability is also clearly defined in measurable terms regarding its impact on the bottom line as well. This is entirely a modern way of managing knowledge for the creation of wealth. On its consistent application depends the health and well-being of a firm and, in a larger national context, the comprehension and use of this process can and does change fortunes of societies.