Last week I attended a really inspiring talk held by Patrick Cohendet (HEC Montreal), organized by the Research Network of the KMGN: Knowledge Based Approaches to The Firm: An Idea-Driven Perspective.
What I really liked and what was an excellent food for thought was the conception of Knowledge Management as a bridging funtion between the Generating of (many) Ideas and the Innovation Management. Knowledge Management facilitates the evaluation and filtering of ideas by ensuring that during this process relevant knowledge is available and efficiently used:
„[…] an idea needs to be equipped with various bodies of knowledge in order to become commercially viable. After the initial spark, the “social and cognitive construction of the idea” phase becomes crucial in the ideation journey. The goal is to provide the idea with enough knowledge to form an internally consistent set of concepts and ultimately make it commercially viable.“ (Patrick Cohendet)
So, the question is not – as often asked for in organizations – to clearly distinguish between KM on the one and Innovation Management on the other side. On the contrary, KM is at the very basis and an essential prerequisite for a successful Innovation Management, isn’t it? Always felt, now well explained. Thank you, Patrick!