ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. For the purposes of this book, knowledge means accumulated experience, data and understanding gained by practical enquiry, reduced to useful applications. The authors might add that knowledge contributes to measurable 'intellectual capital' of organizations. The twentieth century may, in retrospect, be viewed as the century of exponential growth of knowledge. Senior and middle-ranking managers in industry, government, commerce, academe, the military and other enterprises interact with other organizations, colleagues, regulatory agencies and a range of 'stakeholders'. Some knowledge has a half-life of days, while other forms of knowledge will endure for aeons. The difficulty in acquiring new knowledge can be factor of how close the knowledge owner, broker or stakeholder is to the organization. Many companies are reluctant to reveal true extent of their research and development (R&D) investment and can legally apportion expenditures to disguise exactly where money is being spent.
