Tools and Methods to Assess Knowledge in the Knowledge Economy

This tutorial provides an overview of various models and tools for the evaluation of knowledge management both at the national level (across national economies) and at the organizational level (across firms). The tutorial frames the concept of knowledge economies, knowledge management and knowledge development programs. It then focuses on a methodological framework the knowledge assessment to appraise national and organizational prospective capabilities to generate new information and knowledge. The knowledge assessment comprises of qualitative and quantitative exercises to collect benchmarking data on relative standing on a series of identified knowledge management drivers synthesized into comparable knowledge management indexes. The tutorial presents a comprehensive review of current approaches to measurement systems that have been adopted by international organizations and firms. Examples discussed, tools and methods are based, among others, on the World Bank, the OECD, and the United Nations comparative country knowledge assessments. Similar examples are provided for an industry level analysis of organizations in multiple sectors. A synthetic review of monetary methods (citation weighted patent, Tobin’s Q, marketto-book value, etc.) and non-monetary methods (balanced scorecard, intangible assets monitor, Skandia navigator, etc.) to assess knowledge assets is included with the larger discussion on knowledge assessments. Lastly, the tutorial reviews the issues still open for achieving standardization and generalizability of the measurement models and lists open research areas and opportunities. In so doing, it also solicits enhancing the predictive capabilities of current models by describing the application of graphical approaches to current measurement systems. Participants in the tutorial session will be exposed to a holistic review of both organizational (micro-level) and national (macro-level) analyses. This review organizes and links extant and prospective models and suggests further exploring possible integration avenues. It challenges participants to extend frameworks across disciplines.