FOREWORD

With the intent of designing a more systematic, focused program on knowledge management (KM), in 2006 the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) initiated a survey on the status of KM in nine member countries and compiled about two dozen case studies of exemplary KM practices in the private sector, government, and nongovernmental organizations in Asia. This book is the result of that survey project. To complement the survey, the APO sent three factfinding missions to leading KM institutions and practitioners in Europe and the USA in 2007. Study meetings on formulating a KM framework, KM implementation, and KM measurement methodology were also convened by the APO to expand its research and planning function.

The survey of good KM practices described in this book validated earlier concepts and yielded useful new insights that can help the APO improve its program to assist NPOs in KM and to help member countries to move toward knowledge-based development (KBD). Because many individual member countries have unique or specific strengths in KM, collaborative or multilateral cooperation among NPOs would be mutually beneficial, especially for NPOs that have only recently begun the journey toward competitiveness and excellence through KM. The APO intends to improve its assistance to NPOs that need to accelerate the adoption of KM and KBD.

Many leading organizations in KM practice in Asia are shifting their focus from excellence in operational productivity and quality management to excellence in strategic innovation and learning through KM. Thus the APO will continue to encourage the replication or adaptation of the best practices in quality improvement, but more importantly it will increase efforts to stimulate the innovation of “next practices” to improve the global competitiveness of Asian enterprises.

The case studies in this volume provide evidence that success in the Asian organizations studied is viewed not only as stemming from intelligent management of knowledge assets but also from supportive relationships and caring leadership that motivate knowledge workers in Asia to perform at their best.

The APO is grateful to all contributors to this publication for conveying the importance of KM through their survey studies. Special thanks are due to Dr. Serafin D. Talisayon for his role as chief expert for the survey and review of the entire volume. It is our hope that the survey results will provide readers with further insights into KM and assist firms and policymakers in taking actions that will yield business excellence and higher productivity.

Shigeo Takenaka, Secretary-General, Tokyo
May 2008