Establishing a knowledge management programme for competitive advantage inan enterprise

This article is concerned with the establishment of a knowledge management programme that will ensure sustainable competitive advantage within an ente rprise. The main problem under investigation is to assess the importance of knowledge management within an enterprise and to ascertain how it can ensu re sustained competitive advantage in an enterprise, an empirical survey wa s conducted in the Eskom Transmission Group, Johannesburg, South Africa to investigate understanding of the knowledge management concept amongst busin ess leaders, determine enablers and barriers to implement a knowledge manag ement programme and to determine whether knowledge is seen as a source for competitive advantage. It is suggested that enterprises should adopt a holi stic and integrated approach when establishing such a programme. Broad reco mmendations for establishing a knowledge management programme that will be a source of sustainable competitive advantage are proposed. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.