Knowledge is power, this insight of the English philosopher Francis Bacon from 1597 is even more valid today. In earlier times, knowledge was usually kept to oneself to gain a personal advantage. Today, it is the sharing of knowledge that leads companies to success. Knowledge is the most valuable asset of a company, especially in times of increasing digitization.  And the upshot is that knowledge must be managed. Like employees, processes, changes, etc., knowledge needs to be developed and controlled as an essential resource within the company. I have been dealing with this for a long time. The trigger was many years ago an interview with a manager from Mercedes-Benz, the automobile company, who said in passing, “if Mercedes knew what Mercedes knows …“, and left the end of the sentence open, implying that “then we would have a huge competitive advantage“. Especially in service, this is often, even more, the case.

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