The role of knowledge management in innovation Essay -- Analysis, Mari

This article has been written by Marina du Plessis in 2007. The author intends to make clear the role of knowledge management in innovation as an assist to addressing this complexity and clarify the role of knowledge management in innovation as an aid to addressing this complexity. This is a viewpoint paper which is based on literature research and personal experiences and interpretation from the author. She uses the simple sentences and easy to be understood even for the first timer reader. Furthermore, the arrangement of the content is such an empirical paper that may attract readers to read the article. As the other empirical paper, this study also provides abstract that summarises the whole content of this research paper. According to the author, Plessis (2007), the complexity of innovation has increased by growth in the amount of knowledge available to organizations as basis for innovation. This statement is agreed by other researchers, Adams and Lamont (2003); Cardinal et al., (2001); Darroch and McNaughton (2002); Pyka (2002) and Shani et al., (2003) who state that innovation is really dependent on the availability of knowledge and therefore the complexity created by the blast of richness and reach of knowledge has to be identified and managed to ensure successful innovation. Besides that, in a previous study that has been conducted by Ruggles, R. & Little R. (1997), they also have the positive opinion about knowledge management and innovation when they assert that innovation as one end to which knowledge management can be applied. Additionally, innovation has been demonstrated to be a key value creator for organizations, in both times of cost cutting and in times of growth. As such, it stands out as one excellent objectiv... ... teams or learning-by-doing capabilities, which leads to new product and process innovations. Besides that, explicit knowledge is also an important component of innovation. Rodan (2002) in his case study asserts that if one views the conï ¬â€šuence of tacit and explicit knowledge elements that create a new idea as probabilistic, increasing the opportunities for the said conï ¬â€šuence of knowledge elements should raise the frequency of new combinations occurring, thus positively impacting innovation. As a conclusion, it is clear that knowledge management plays a vital essential role in innovation. Therefore, it is very crucial for both knowledge management professional and innovation to understand the systematic relationship between these concepts and the value that it can generate in respect of creating and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage for organisation.