The Knowledge Engine How to Create Fast Cycles of Knowledge-to-Peformance and Performance-to-Knowledge

The Knowledge Engine provides the answers and gives examples of what leading corporations are doing. As we enter the 21st century, clearly the business environment and the challenges it creates are changing. Organisations that were ahead of the pack a few years ago are now facing competitive pressures from relatively new entrants into the marketplace. Capital and key human resources are becoming harder to access. The global economy and its underlying technology network are redefining the drivers of margin and sources of value. Cost and quality, the twin-pillars of competitive advantage in the industrial age, are now seen as competitive parity rather than true differentiation. Speed and knowledge have emerged as the keys to success. Speed is seen not only in shorter product life cycles, but also in the rapid merging of organisations to form whole new entities. And knowledge embedded in products and business processes now drives what can be created and delivered to the customer.

Lloyd Baird is Executive Director of the Leadership Institute and a principal at the Systems Research Center, focusing on learning and executive development, and a professor of management at Boston University.