The world has moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy and further to a knowledge and information economy. Although the rapidity of the transition from one type of economy to the other varies from country to country, almost all economies have experienced these shifts to varying degrees. Countries such as India have simultaneously seen all three types of economies in operation, thereby increasing the complexity for top executives and others in the profession of management.
The history of management bears evidence of the triumphs and travails associated with this transition from industrial economy to information/knowledge economy which has left many organizations dead and obsolete. Knowledge is a prized asset, which needs to be protected or shared for it to flourish or it will be forever lost. There is competitive advantage in knowledge and information, both for organizations and the executives that populate them. In this book, the author exploits these knowledge bases to study the role of leaders in knowledge management through an analysis of the collective experiences of successful executives of global corporations. This book draws on the author's research findings in the last decade in identifying and encapsulating various practical aspects of knowledge leadership that provide key tools for a broad range of executives of budding organizations.