Smart Business: How Knowledge Communities Can Revolutionize Your Company

by Jim Botkin

This management book for the Post-Information Age reveals a path to renewal that shows businesses how to effectively organize and exploit their most valuable resource--knowledge. Line art. Index. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684850249
• ISBN13: 9780684850245
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 289 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A KaosPilot must-read

At The KaosPilot University we do not believe in lists with required reading since this would deprive the students of the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning - learning how to learn - but SMART BUSINESS by Dr. Jim Botkin is the exception which confirms that rule. The new dividing line is between the ones who know and the ones who do not know how to capture, share and leverage knowledge.Smart Business is the pragmatic new economy manifesto we have been waiting for and a 'must-read' for anyone who want to keep making a difference when the rules of business is changing.Thanx! -- Erik Wingren, Aggressive Learner

A Tour de Force on the knowledge revolution

Dr. Jim has done it again. The author of the best selling, Monster Under the Bed, has given us the most concise and authoritative work yet on knowlege: its management; communities; and the new knowledge business.The book breaks new ground and also summarizes where we are in the whirlwind of knowledge as it rips through the entire global economy. It incorporates a number of insightful case studies from real companies around the world on how they are coping with this new phenomena. The real value to readers, initiated and novice, is how organizations, through knowledge communities, can transform themselves, even in legacy companies. These are powerful ideas, stories and concepts that together create a whole new way of doing business-- SMART BUSINESS. I loved the analogy to bees and the clever artwork. Nature itself can teach us many lessons if only we had the patience to learn. You can learn a great deal from this book. "Dell or be Delled", as the saying now goes. This book is a manifesto for the emerging fast company. Read it and move into the future. Disregard it at your own peril!

Praise from a Knowledge Management Practitioner

If you are "doing" knowledge management and it's not working, read Jim Botkin's book. If you want to build a knowledge management system, read the book. If your CEO doesn't "get" knowledge management, have him or her read this book. It is a very cogent presentation of the business case for knowledge management, and for those who want to learn, a great KM primer. AND there's a new and valuable framework for success, which is the knowledge community. Without it or them, you're wasting your time. It is an intelligent and fun book, loaded with great examples and personal stories.

Informative, well written and provacative!

This is the fourth book of Botkin's that I have read and it is by far, the best. He has written a superb book for leaders yearning to understand how to leverage the brainpower of their work force. Dr. Botkin lays out a strong case for less bureaucracy and more shared learning. I read Smart Business in two days and found myself consistently reaching for the highlighter. He uses powerful examples, both from the Fortune 500 companies he has worked with and the natural environment of the honeybees that almost took his life. Smart Business gives a historical perspective of how we arrived at the knowledge age. It is packed with examples of how knowledge communities bring tangible benefits to organizations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Leaders who desire to catch a glimpse of the future should read Smart Business.

MAKES A SURE-FIRE CONNECTION WITH ALL FUTURE-ORIENTED FOLKS!

Botkin sees us moving from the information economy of number crunching to the knowledge economy of connecting. Smart businesses, by definition, will over-invest in "connecting power" and will take full advantage of Metcalf's Law (the power of a computer is proportional to the square of the number of connections it makes). The author explores building knowledge communities, knowledge businesses, and knowledge management systems. Key topics are business, organization, management, culture, learning and leadership. This is a fascinating assessment of today's and tomorrow's economy and businesses, putting emphasis on future trends. It will make a sure-fire connection with each and everyone fascinated with, and oriented to, the future. Reviewed by Yvette Borcia, Managing Partner, Stern & Associates, co-author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.