Knowledge management is a key issue to firms. While many firms have gained a considerable technological edge over their competitors, managers in these firms still find themselves inadequate to deal with knowledge. Knowledge derived from technology is mostly conceived in syntactic levels, which managers can easily understand and manage. However, knowledge that is based on social relations is soft, impersonal, and sensitive, and is difficult to manage through a set of standards and techniques. An in-depth study of two firms showed that too much emphasis on technology could be one-sided, without offering any significant advantages to firms. On the other hand, firms which pay equal attention to technology as well as people by encouraging informal meetings among employees, get-together, and personal interactions perform better to meet customers' expectations in products and services. 1998 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.
Knowledge management is a central issue to many businesses. During the late 1980s, managers in several industries believed that advances in technology prepared them to manage knowledge effectively. However, they soon discovered that managing knowledge is not a simple issue of managing technology, but it also requires managing social relations and interactions in the firm (Davenport, 1994).
Though there are a number of studies which have looked at the issue of technological as well as social perspectives of the organization, none of the studies have seriously dealt with the task of knowledge management. This paper raises the issue of knowledge and elaborates its consequences for organizations. In the next section, the research methodology and a general overview of the sample firms are described.