Understanding Knowledge Transfer on the Net: Useful Lessons from the Knowledge Economy

KM is making its way among the more established branches of business management. Thus, the contribution that can come from an “economic reading” of KM practices can not be neglected. To systematise the conceptual backgrounds and to improve the formal modelling, a more direct connection with the models and approaches of the economic disciplines would be useful, but KM and Economics have often been two too distant areas. Recently, the attention to the economic models by KM researchers has increased. On the other hand, a growing number of economists has shown interest in the emerging field of the "Knowledge Economy", that focuses on the knowledge as an explicit object of the economic analysis. From these converging efforts, useful elements for the conceptual systematisation of KM can arise, and can give theoretical robustness to both the practice and the research. In the light of this, the chapter examines the contribution that the current studies of the Knowledge Economy can give to the clearer understanding of KM and, particularly, of Knowledge Transfer processes that are a central element of KM. The open research questions that may result from such an "economics-based" approach to KM are also analysed.