The Target of acquiring knowledge

Knowledge Acquisition
Knowledge acquisition refers to the knowledge that a firm can try to obtain from external sources. External knowledge sources are important and one should therefore take a holistic view of the value chain (Gamble & Blackwell 2001). Sources include suppliers, competitors, partners/alliances, customers, and external experts. Communities of practice can extend well outside the firm.
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Knowledge acquisition is a topic that could fill books and extend well outside the knowledge management (KM) focus. For this reason, detailed descriptions of how to manage external relationships are beyond the scope of this topic. However, since KM is inextricably linked to corporate strategy, an overview of the options available to the organization will be helpful to understanding the full potential KM role.

This subsection will discuss the knowledge available from the different sources, and the managerial issues that must be considered. In the subsection titled "External Knowledge Network", I will tie this back to the overall strategic level and look at the process behind external knowledge acquisition.

The main sources are of knowledge acquisition are:


Customers
Customer knowledge comes in different forms. Gerbert et al (2002) identify three different types:

Knowledge for customer: The knowledge that the customers can gain in order to satisfy their knowledge needs.. It can include product, market, and supplier knowledge. It can be sourced from our company or from other external sources like other customers and competitors (Zanjani 2008).
Knowledge about customer: The kind of knowledge that enables us to know the customer better, to understand their motivations, and to address them better. Includes requirements, expectations, and purchasing activities.
Knowledge from customer: The kind of knowledge that deals with products, suppliers, and markets. It can be used to improve our products and services.


These three categories apply to actual knowledge acquisition as well as to data and information, which can be processed and used to create knowledge (Zanjani 2008); e.g. data on purchasing habits could be analyzed to create knowledge that could improve marketing or design decisions.

Knowledge sharing is thus important, although it may take many different forms depending on the area of business. KM is particularly important for B2B relationships where the buyers are usually more prominent (i.e. either buy many products or buy expensive products) and the products are more likely to be customized to the needs of the customer. This can, and often should result in a closer relationship with more detailed communication and feedback, where the customers are involved as partners when discussing modifications and improvements (Gerbert et al 2002).

Some possible KM initiatives thus include:

Collecting feedback
Collecting and processing marketing related information
Collecting suggestions
Involvement in development/design
Effective acquisition of customer knowledge is dependent on customer relationship management. IT can be used in this context both as a means of collecting feedback and enhancing communication and cooperation between partners (the principles of knowledge sharing apply here within the confines of the specific relationship). It is also useful as a way to gather data and information regarding sales, trends, feedback, and so on, which can then be used to create new knowledge within the organization.