Intellectual capital and knowledge management effectiveness

Building on the complexities of organizational knowledge creation the paper explores the alignment of knowledge management practices with the epistemological beliefs of individuals or groups in organizations. A pan‐European research project investigated individual’s philosophy about truth, knowledge and the optimum approach of knowledge creation. These individual viewpoints and requirements are then contrasted with the knowledge management practices implemented in organizations. The results highlight significant misalignment between knowledge management requirements in epistemological terms and individual’s perception of organizational knowledge management activities. The paper claims these differences lie at the heart of problems companies experience with extracting value from knowledge management initiatives. The paper suggests ways of identifying and evaluating resource transformations in organizations, in order better to understand and manage knowledge creation to grow the intellectual capital of organizations.