Intelligent Enterprises of the 21st Century

Just implementing a knowledge management system does not make an organization a knowledge-based business. For an organization to become a knowledge-based business several aspects must be considered. An organization that values knowledge must integrate knowledge into its business strategy and sell it as a key part of its products and services. To do this requires a strong commitment to knowledge management directed from the top of the organization. Furthermore, the knowledge architecture should be designed to be appropriate to the specific organization given its industry and the activities, products or services it may provide. For the knowledge architecture it is important to consider the organization's structure as well as its culture. Then, it is necessary to consider the processes of generating, representing, accessing and transferring knowledge throughout the organization and the technology that is required to enable this. Finally, a knowledge-based business should also enable organizational learning to take place so that the knowledge that is captured is always updated and current and the organization is continually improving and refining its product or service. Figure 3 illustrates all the factors required to be a knowledge-based enterprise.