Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management (Harvard Business
Review Series)
by Harvard Business School
Book Description
The Harvard Business Review paperback series is designed to bring today's managers and
professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving
world. Here are the landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as
required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe. The eight
articles in Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management highlight the leading-edge
thinking and practical applications that are defining the field of knowledge management.
Includes Peter Drucker's prophetic "The Coming of the New Organization" and
Ikujiro Nonaka's "Knowledge-Creating Company."
From the Back Cover
Knowledge management-the way companies generate, communicate, and leverage their
intellectual assets-has only recently emerged as the information economy's essential
source of competitive advantage. The Harvard Business Review was among the first to
identify the importance of knowledge management, and now the cutting-edge thinking and
practical applications that are defining the field are conveniently close at hand in this
timely and authoritative collection.
Articles
- The Coming of the New Organization (Peter F. Drucker)
- The Knowledge-Creating Company (Ikujiro Nonaka)
- Building a Learning Organization (David A. Garvin)
- Teaching Smart People How to Learn (Chris Argyris)
- Putting Your Company's Whole Brain to Work (Dorothy Leonard and Susaan Straus)
- How to Make Experience Your Company's Best Teacher (Art Kleiner and George Roth)
- Research that Reinvents the Corporation (John Seely Brown)
- Managing Professional Intellect: Making the Most of the Best (James Brian Quinn, Philip
Anderson, and Sydney Finkelstein)
Reviews
A reader from Utah , June 18, 1999
Neither current nor enlightening
Of four books purchased on Knowledge Management - this one is least valuable. Its title is
a current "hot topic" but the text is ten years old and doesn't impart much
knowledge.
A
reader from Yaounde, Cameroon , May 11, 1999
A simple, but direct approach to a subject that is academic
Having read other titles that treat this subject either partially or fully, this strikes
me as the most simple and direct one in approaching the subject of knowledge management.
While some authors have treated the subject as an academic exercise, the various
contributors to this title have cleverly demonstrated the practicality of this subject in
today's changing business environment.
A
reader from Washington, DC , April 8, 1999
Ideal Intro To A Very Intangible Topic
While other facets of management consulting will ultimately yield to lower-cost technology
tools, or consultants, KM shall reign as the ultimate value-added analysis. That was my
hypothesis before buying this book, and it has only been proven true. The essays in the
book range from esoteric to the executable, and include valuable case studies to punctuate
the themes. Knowledge Management means so many things, that it can come to mean nothing.
This book does an excellent job of providing some metes and bounds to the topic and to
stimulate thinking around important organizational and operational issues.But don't get it
and expect to be an "instant expert." This is an overview, albeit an excellent
one.
Editor,
Stern's Management Review online, April 4, 1999
A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Looking for some informative, original and clear thinking about knowledge management? This
book is a great choice! In its pages you will find an outstanding collection of articles
drawn from past editions of the HBR. The eight articles cover: analysis of a
knowledge-creating company; building a learning organization, using experience; teaching
people how to learn; and managing professional intellect. Each article begins with an
executive summary which, for the fast-forward crowd, is a big plus.
So many books are merely ONE GOOD ARTICLE embedded in a thicket of verbiage. Chopping
away through such a jungle of verbosity for the gist-of-it-all often proves tedious and
disappointing. (Blessed are the laconic!) This book, on the other hand, just serves up a
bunch of 'gists' –the pure meat and potatoes of ideas. Happily, the HBSP has
published several other collections of this sort on such topics as leadership, change, and
strategies for growth. Each of these is collection of first-rate 'gists'.
A
reader from Sweden , January 26, 1999
Excellent, clear, practical summary of the subject
An excellent summary of a wide range of topics that can be grouped under the heading
'Knowledge Management'. The content is stimulating and full of practical applications.
