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Home > Vol.
2, No. 3 |
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The Global Knowledge Primer
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Figure 1: Evolution of Thought |
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www.entovation.com/gkp/power.htm
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This comprehensive Global Knowledge Primer - with hundreds of pages of articles - provides you with a window into the evolution of the knowledge movement, a variety of facets of knowledge practice and a glimpse of the core trends and future vision of the Knowledge Economy.
The reader can follow how the knowledge focus has provided a common language across functional responsibilities, in different industries and from all corners of the globe.
This Primer has been organized to provide perspective on the movement - its roots, its leadership, its current practice and its vision. We live in an era of kaleidoscopic change in which the compounding effect of the speed of multiple variables creates an unparalleled management landscape.
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Figure 2: Transformation |
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www.entovation.com/whatsnew/superhighway.htm
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This transformation affects every function, every industry, every sector and every corner of the world. We also know that leadership can - and must - come from anywhere in the enterprise.
This publication has been compiled to help the knowledge professional - veteran and novice alike - gain perspective on the movement, witness the various facets of the change, and envision - with sound trend analysis - what might be possible with a coherent knowledge strategy. The articles have come primarily from ones that have appeared in the newsletter - I3 Update/ENTOVATION International News - as well as other journals and electronic publications.
For our purpose, the knowledge movement has been in true motion since 1987 with a roundtable sponsored by Digital Equipment Corporation. It began as an innovation agenda - harnessing the intellectual capital of a nation for international competitiveness.
Peter Drucker may have written about the knowledge worker and the knowledge society years before; but there was little understanding of how fundamental was to be this transformation or insight as to how such a major shift in the economy would be led.
In the mid-1980s, Karl-Erik Sveiby provided the European roots by writing The Know-How Company and Hiroyuki Itami (a student of Ikujiru Nonaka) did the same with Invisible Assets in Japan.
At that time, few had an understanding of how universal would be the modern managerial concepts to take us well beyond Taylorism and the Alfred P. Sloan divisionalization practices suitable for General Motors in the 1940's. Today - almost 15 years later, the knowledge community spans all countries - in both developing and industrialized nations.
This is a movement born out of practice, not theory. In fact, the new concepts and methodologies are being developed real-time as solutions to today's complex management dilemmas.
We now know that there is no such thing as a non-knowledge industry.
In the early days, many wrote about the differences between knowledge-intensive industries inferring that the services sector was knowledge intensive and the high-tech or manufacturing firms were not. Then, there were writings that the knowledge economy represented the high-technology industries; and non-technology firms were not.
Managerially, they are identical - although what does differentiate them is the nature of their business, the maturity of a given industry and how they utilize their knowledge base, however that may be defined.
We also know that leadership can - and must - come from everywhere in the enterprise. We have observed the evolution of the Finance community embracing the notions of intangible assets. The Human Resource community is leveraging the concepts of leadership, learning and networked organization structures.
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Figure 3: Lotus Temple |
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Photo courtesy of Dr. Charles Savage
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The IT (Information Technology) community realized that the focus is not on information at all, but the knowledge that is created shared and applied in an organization - the innovation process!
R&D (Research & Development) long considered the idea engine for most companies has discovered that good ideas do not necessarily reside within R&D or even inside the corporation.
Research shows that the majority of new product ideas actually come from external sources of knowledge. What we need are suitable management technologies to evaluate and incubate those ideas into viable products and services.
This explicit focus on knowledge as a management strategy is only about 15 years old. And yet, there is hardly an organization - profit or not for profit - that has not embraced the modern knowledge concepts.
Many see it as a path for profitability. Others see it as a path for economic vitality and sustainability for industrialized and developing nations alike. This compendium of articles provides a foundation for viewing this knowledge phenomenon from the perspective of all 3 economic levels simultaneously. You'll read of the practice of executives and the policies of leaders.
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Figure 4: Entovation Holonomy |
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| Economic Megagroup |
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ENTOVATION Colleagues |
| Alliance | ENTOVATION Associate |
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| Enterprise | ENTOVATION Global Liaisons |
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| Large Organization |
ENTOVATION Fellows |
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| Small Group | ENTOVATION Business Partners |
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www.entovation.com/gkp/introduction.htm
See Review article for animated holonomy diagram |
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The material is organized in eight parts - each containing a glimpse into activity and aspirations. The material includes some of the most recent and timely work of those affiliated with the ENTOVATION Network. Some of the references provide pointers to material that might be harder to find. We have also included some of the original (now historic) documents - never before available online.
The eight parts are as follows:
Part 1 - Overview
Part 2 - The ENTOVATION Network
Part 3 - The Knowledge Value Proposition
Part 4 - Knowledge and Innovation Trends
Part 5 - Focus on Functions
Part 6 - Focus on Enterprises
Part 7 - Focus on the World
Part 8 - Focus on ENTOVATION
There are three essentials for knowledge leadership:
Treat your scan of the documents as an exploration into how the material is relevant to your own function, industry and region. But more importantly, consider the connections to be made as you venture out of your comfortable territory and into the initiatives of others. Allow yourself to imagine a future that doesn't exist today - and some steps for how to make that vision a reality. It matters not if you are a bench engineer, a computer science student or a CEO (Chief Executive Officer).
Remember, the Knowledge Economy is about you - no one else.
Consider yourself an integral player in the solutions that lie ahead. This has been my personal attempt to share with you the fruits of my own journey into and within the knowledge frontier.
No doubt you, as the reader, have even more to share in perception and perspective. We participate as a critical mass of leaders now energized with the turn of the Millennium and anxious to contribute to a sustainable future - and yes, even a legacy for our children.
With the compendium The Architecture Primer (see Review link below), managers will discover how to lead their enterprises in the Knowledge Economy. Become a participant in the Community of Knowledge Practice and let us know your progress!
Always in your Network,
Debra M. Amidon
The Primer - the equivalent of more than 400 written pages of text - can be found by clicking on Global Knowledge Primer from the ENTOVATION Home page or going directly to: www.entovation.com/info/index.htm
The Architecture Primer - see Review
Read the KnowMap Review of The Global Knowledge Primer.
Read more about Debra M. Amidon.
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