One of the ten immediate actions involved is developing a knowledge strategy. Enterprises should develop an explicit knowledge strategy in order to focus attention on the e-knowledge imperative. This strategy cannot be voluminous if it is to succeed in capturing attention and evoking the imagination of the enterprise’s stakeholders. Indeed, some of the best examples of knowledge strategies are concise statements that may not even be labeled by such a grand term as “knowledge strategy.”

Knowledge Strategies in
Different Settings

Many of the enterprises already cited are guided by knowledge strategies or some equivalent, explicit statement. Consider the following examples from corporate, education, association, and governmental environments.

• Boeing Corporation’s use of wireless technology to bring design and assembly knowledge to the manufacturing floor has created an “augmented reality” environment for its assembly workers that will only increase with the introduction of ambient technology. Moreover, the use of “smart manufacturing” has transformed many aspects of the assembly of large aircraft parts from a “cut and fit art” to a technology-driven science. Boeing and other firms in this industry know that knowledge drives every aspect of the design and manufacturing of their products and is fundamental to competitive advantage.
• The University of Southern Queensland has clear strategies for using knowledge as a differentiator in its learning experiences. These understandings are supported by Professor Taylor’s seminal article, “Fifth Generation Distance Learning,” which cogently articulates the centrality of e-knowledge in the new “killer apps” for fifth generation distance education.

• The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists develops its products, services, and experiences around the strategic insight that personalized, satisfying access to current, continuously evolving knowledge is an indispensable resource for pharmaceutical scientists and those who want to associate with them.
• The Knowledge Network launched by the UK government has been guided by the simple understanding that many government services require cross-departmental conversation and rationalization, based on the sharing of knowledge and insight during policy and service development.

A cogent, explicit knowledge strategy shapes business plans and initiatives, as in the following example.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). AHIMA’s motto is “quality healthcare through quality information.” AHIMA represents 40,000 professionals serving the information needs of the U.S. healthcare system, as manifested by managing, analyzing, and utilizing the data used in a patient’s record. Clearly, this association must be a leader in information and knowledge if it is to meet its members’ needs, plus the needs of its members’ supervisors, clients, and patients — the true source of indispensability to its members.