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The increasing liberalization of markets coupled with the creation of new markets for intermediate products is stripping firm-level competitive advantage back to its fundamental core: difficult to create and difficult to imitate intangible assets. This article explores these developments and elucidates implications for the management of intellectual capital inside firms.

A set of firms exists whose output consists solely of innovative solutions to novel problems, and whose long-term success depends on their ability to continuously innovate. These firms act as knowledge brokers, spanning multiple industries to innovate by transferring knowledge from where it is known to where it is not. They are often consultants to clients in a range of markets, but are also groups within a large organization that serve a range of otherwise independent divisions. Rather than producing breakthroughs in any one technology or dominating any one industry, knowledge brokers rely on an alternative but equally powerful strategy that lends itself to continuous innovation. These firms create new products and processes by combining existing technologies in ways that result in dramatic synergy. This article presents a theory of innovation through knowledge brokering that explains the actions and advantages of such firms, and it considers the lessons these firms can offer to others seeking to innovate.

One of the most effective avenues toward improvement is the process of internal benchmarking--identifying, sharing, and using the knowledge and "best practices" inside one's organization. But the process can be tricky and time consuming because of obstacles such as ignorance about resources or others' needs, a culture that values personal expertise more than knowledge sharing, and a lack of resources for implementation of best practices. This article explores how organizations conduct successful internal benchmarking, relating details ranging from requirements for successful transfer to lessons learned.

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields are rife with a wide range of collaborative relationships intended to access knowledge, skills, and resources that cannot be produced by organizations internally in a timely fashion. As more firms rely on external relationships for knowledge, the ability to process, transfer, and transmit knowledge gained in one context to other activities becomes critical. This article examines the capability for learning both how and what to learn in the context of these inter-organizational relations, and it surveys various practices developed by companies for accessing and distributing knowledge. The key challenge in innovation-intensive fields is to develop organizational routines for learning that are robust, flexible, and durable.

This article deals with the role of purchase-supply relations in organizational learning and knowledge-creation in Japan and how such relations are currently undergoing change. Drawing on interviews with managers, it presents case studies of the customer-supplier partnerships of three prominent Japanese manufacturing firms: Hitachi, Matsushita, and Toyota. The Hitachi case illustrates in a somewhat novel way the prevailing paradigm of how long-term, high-trust supply relations in Japan enhance organizational knowledge creation, learning, and innovation. The Toyota and Matsushita cases demonstrate that the dynamics of learning are behind two very different kinds of change in keiretsu supply networks. Toyota's evolving relationship with long-term partner Denso Corporation appears to fit the popular view that globalization and technological change are eroding Japanese keiretsu ties. The Matsushita case, by contrast, demonstrates that these same forces of change in other industrial settings may in fact be strengthening keiretsu-style partnerships.

This article draws attention to a number of errors that could potentially cripple the efforts of any organization attempting to generate and leverage knowledge. Many of these errors are associated with the concept of knowledge itself--how knowledge is understood in organizational settings. The article notes the sources of each error as well as some key implications for managing knowledge. It concludes with some brief suggestions on how to avoid, or at least ameliorate these errors.

Since its creation in 1964, executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) marketed its consultants as "generalists." As searches became more global and industry-specific in the 1990s, CEO Daniel Meiland decided the firm needed to offer specialized services. By 1995, industry-specific practice groups were incorporated into EZI's organizational structure. The case examines how practice groups might affect EZI's ability to maintain its "one firm" egalitarian philosophy. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

The Beta Group is a technology incubator in Menlo Park, CA that has successfully built a portfolio of businesses in the medical, consumer products, and industrial technology sectors by systematically matching proprietary technologies to unmet market needs. Beta has developed a new golf club technology that allows golfers to reduce the dispersion of miss-hit golf balls. The case addresses questions of strategy and finance as Beta considers its options to commercialize the technology. Also presents an opportunity to discuss Beta's unique investment approach.

Lehigh Steel is a specialty steel manufacturer that plummeted from record profits to record losses in less than three years, driven by an inability to distinguish between profitable and unprofitable business. The scale and growth of service activities and overhead costs in an increasingly customized product line suggests that activity-based costing (ABC) could unlock the secrets of profitability. However, the high fixed-cost structure suggests that theory of constraints (TOC) could also be relevant. Lehigh must determine how to measure profitability to rationalize its products.

This case features an entrepreneur who must decide whether to sell his small distribution company. The case explores several issues for class discussion: (1) valuation of a private company, (2) assessing the entrepreneur's perspective and alternatives, (3) deal structuring (including earnouts), (4) risks and their effect on value, and (5) advice from a banker's perspective.

Bronner Slosberg Humphrey has succeeded by providing integrated direct marketing solutions for major service companies such as AT&T, American Express, and FedEx. A new CEO takes over from the company's founder and is wondering how to grow the company. Options include selling individual services (teleservices, database, web), and/or opening global offices.

Discusses the Asian crisis and economists' opinions and solutions.

The purchasing officer at the Hillview Hospital in London, Ontario, was reviewing four suppliers' quotes for antiseptic handsoap. He had asked for new quotes after receiving a large number of complaints from hospital staff about sudden problems with the current handsoap. Testing revealed that the current supplier had changed the soap's formulation without informing the hospital.

Examines the on-line division of Barnes & Noble, barnesandnoble.com. The on-line bookselling industry is examined, with emphasis on its biggest competitor, Amazon.com.

Launch has developed an entertainment publication on CD-ROM with 240,000 subscribers and has recently introduced an on-line entertainment product (www.mylaunch.com) to complement the CD-ROM. Deals with multiple-channel delivery and platform selection and branding on the Web.

ONSET Ventures, is a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage start-ups. Describes the principles and strategies the firm has developed over its life. Also presents an in-depth discussion of one of the seed-stage companies ONSET has been incubating.

Samina Quraeshi, principal of Boston-based Shepard Quraeshi Associates, must decide whether to take legal action against her key employees after they leave her firm to start their own, taking with them key clients and data. Quraeshi sees the situation as reflecting cultural tension between Eastern and Western ways of doing business. This case details Quraeshi's cultural journey from her Muslim past in Pakistan to her life in the United States, including service as the director of the Design-Arts Program for the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.

Supplements the (A) case.

Mark Johnson, general manager of HCM Beverage Co., must decide what to do about the declining performance of Vietnam-based HCM Beverage. Employees seem unmotivated and lackadaisical about their work. These same workers blame the weather for the poor results. Figuring out the problem and solution is Johnson's major challenge.

After three years of investments, Bristol Compressors' performance in Asia-Pacific has been disappointing. The lack of management bench strength is perceived as the number one problem for the company. This case focuses on the challenges of building a high performance organization in a short period of time in Asia.