Knowledge in the Context of Strategic Management of an International Company

Abstract

In the Knowledge Economy the ability of international companies to manage the knowledge effectively and efficiently makes them flexible and adaptive to the dynamic, highly competitive international environment. Therefore the management of knowledge needs to be linked with the corporate strategy of the international company. The goal of the study is to explain how this linkage can be made. The paper clarifies the essence of the strategic knowledge management. The Kaplan & Norton’s Balanced Scorecard approach is presented and the possibility of its application in the strategic knowledge management area is discussed. A process-oriented model for strategic knowledge management in the international company is proposed, based on the Balanced Scorecard approach and consisting of knowledge strategy building and realization. The practices of IBM Corporation, Siemens AG and Hewlett-Packard Company are presented as an example of successful strategic knowledge management. The author concludes that the advantages of the Balanced Scorecard make it a suitable tool for strategic knowledge management in the international company.