The Hindu Business Line : The knowledge entrepreneur

In recent times, there has been a steep rise in the availability and accessibility of information. Indeed, the current century is witnessing a revolution in the generation and application of information, what with the Internet, the satellite dish, and the CD-ROM, besides statutory sanctions like the Right to Information Act. Access to information has been democratised and can be had on demand.

Communications can simultaneously reach millions within seconds. Media companies televise programmes throughout the day and night. CD-ROM discs can store vast amounts of data. Further, much of the information is accessible across the globe and at a nominal cost thanks to computers.

Intrusive inflows

There is also a downside to this syndrome. Information is often persistent and intrusive. Much of it is motivated and focused on the target audience. Marketing literature and junk mail keep pouring into one’s computer in-box. A lot of time is devoted to dealing with the e-mail.

There was a time when, as a matter of company policy, important information was confined to a few individuals who were higher up in the hierarchy. But today the situation has changed. Competitive advantage rests with those who can quickly assemble, develop, and deploy whatever information is available in the system to execute things that are vital, better, and novel. Persons with this skill are in demand and they are the knowledge entrepreneurs who can make a huge difference to the efficiency and market leadership of an organisation.

What is even more important than knowledge is the skill and expertise required to bring that knowledge into productive application for commercial use. Successful companies employ techniques to capture and transplant the skills of knowledge application from experts to other employees, thereby improving the overall performance and capability of the organisation.

Society is poised at the intersection of social, economic, and technological revolutions that can give rise to both individual and corporate transformation, besides creating opportunities for entrepreneurial enterprise and adventure. Affordable and inexpensive technology enables people to access information, knowledge and supportive hardware in order to generate and deliver value to countless consumers across the world.

A lot of information is now available on-tap, which is also easily transmitted, so that busy executives struggle to keep abreast of the inflow. Some become passive and turn ineffective due to the quantity and complexity of the information, while some others are quick to perceive and address the enormous business potential arising out of this deluge.

Knowledge management

The degree to which such a storehouse of information and knowledge can be converted into cash depends on the energy and vision of knowledge entrepreneurs. Current trends and developments offer both challenges and opportunities. While the results of winning are often exciting and rewarding, the consequences of losing can be traumatic.

Knowledge Management has been much talked about. Several tomes have been written on the subject. Nevertheless, the impact so far has only been marginal and peripheral. Many initiatives have already run out of steam. A mere recognition of the advent of the knowledge economy does not make a company knowledge-savvy.

Most companies still seem to adopt a managerial rather than an entrepreneurial outlook in dealing with information. The focus is on managing existing knowledge instead of generating new and novel information. It is necessary to step up from knowledge management to knowledge entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs are practical people. They screen theoretical dictums through filters of market relevance and commercial viability. Entrepreneurs focus on areas that help to augment business performance and promote corporate competitiveness.

(The writer is a Chennai-based management consultant.)