Leveraging knowledge in small firms

During the next decade, the greatest challenge for organizations will be adjusting to an economy in which knowledge will become most organizations' primary asset. In recent years, several empirical and case studies have documented knowledge management practices in large firms. Knowledge management practices in small firms (i.e., those with fewer than 500 employees), however, have not been carefully investigated. The results of a 1999 study of small firms in Canada and the United States, funded by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, are presented in this article. (The study is a follow-up to a 1995-1996 study of knowledge management practices in Fortune 500 and Post 300 firms.)