Date of issue : Friday 11th 2000f August 2000

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August,11, 2000. No.7

This is a monthly virtual magazine for the thinkers and doers of the 21st century.
This magazine is free! You don't have to pay any charges.
Editor: Mario Raich, Ph.D.

The knowledge-based economy is the economy succeeding the industrial economy. “Knowledge” is the main raw material. Knowledge is also one of the main outputs of the knowledge-based economy.

In order to be successful in this economy the following ingredients are necessary:
• A business idea and a business plan
• Experienced people and adequate culture
• Smart money
• An educated market
• Understanding of the technology development
• Finance and controlling
• Virtual dimension, e.g. virtual communication platform

These ingredients have to come together at an enormous speed and in midst of heavy competition. This is the reason why creativity is more important than market intelligence.

The working place is for many people a surrogate for the hunting grounds of the past. This is the reason why it is so dominated by the male population. We need to redefine work as a place for development experiences, where people can mature.

The “New Economy” is also facilitating the creation of new industries. An important outcome is the creation of a new industry out of five established industries: consulting, education, executive search, investment and communication. The new industry is focused mainly on building and accelerating new business ventures. The size of this industry is estimated to be over 12 billion Euro in 2000, growing over 10% yearly.

Many companies have already begun to focus on the emerging business accelerator market. First to focus on this market are companies that are directly affected by this transformation, e.g. business schools, consulting companies, executive search companies, venture capital companies etc. However, there are already several newcomers: business incubators and combinations or alliances of the different affected industries: e.g. business schools with venture capital companies, consulting companies with executive search companies etc.
One that is covering the whole business accelerator market across Europe is the Venturix Group.
In the article “Human Capital and Knowledge Management”, this issues are discusses using the example of Venturix.

The “Dot Company” is emerging as the next corporate species.
Christoph Meyer, vice president and Director of the Cap Gemini Ernst & Young center for Business Innovation, together with Randy Love, vice president in Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Consulting Services Practice has written an fascinating article “Meet the Connected Economy’s New Corporate Species: The Dot Company”. This article is published in: Perspectives on Business Innovation, Issue 5, pp. 13-20.
The authors are claiming that: “Dot companies will prevail in the connected economy as established companies embrace the Internet and as dot coms begin to recognize that in order to deliver on their growth promise, they need infrastructure. Customers will no longer tolerate a company that is unable or unwilling to take advantage of connected capabilities. As in the past, companies must evolve with the economy and the needs of its customers. Today’s volatile market forces a change in the way we have traditionally built organizations. The dot company is the enterprise of the future.”

It becomes more and more clear what is the main differentiation of the New Economy type of companies. It is the corporate culture driven by the entrepreneurial spirit.
Geoffrey James has written already in 1996 in his excellent article on this topic:
“ The long-term success of high-tech startups depends as much on their corporate culture as on their technology. Information Age management means relinquishing old ideas of hierarchical command and control in favor of a new cultural paradigm that embraces the individual.” Geoffrey James, UpsideToday, January 31, 1996.

Third International Conference on Practical Aspects of Knowledge Management 30-31 October, 2000 Basel, Switzerland.
Main contact for further information: Ulrich Reimer Swiss Life Information Systems Research Group Postfach CH-8022 Zurich, Switzerland Tel.: +41-1-2844061; Fax: +41-1-6384061 Email: Ulrich.Reimer@swisslife.ch.
Aims and scope of the conference:
To succeed in the accelerating business pace of the 'internet age', companies must efficiently leverage their most valuable and under-leveraged resource: the intellectual capital of their highly educated, skilled, and experienced employees. The compression of communication cycles and the omnipresence of information forces enterprises to seek a faster return on knowledge - knowledge that ages rapidly in a market place brimming with innovation. One of the most important prerequisites in achieving this return is the systematic management of the key success factor 'knowledge' - previously left to manage itself 'somehow'. Thus next-generation business solutions must be focussed on supporting the creation of value by adding knowledge-rich components as an integral part to the work process. Therefore, an integrated approach is needed which combines issues from a large array of fields, originating from quite different areas such as business and organization sciences, cognitive sciences, and computer science.
The PAKM Conference Series acknowledges the above situation and offers a communication forum and meeting ground for practitioners and researchers engaged in developing and deploying advanced business solutions for the management of knowledge and intellectual capital. We seek attendance and contributions from practitioners, researchers, and developers who work at the leading edge of Knowledge Management, pursuing integrated approaches which consider both, the technological side as well as the proper business side. PAKM is a forum for people to share their views, to exchange ideas, to develop new insights, and to envision completely new kinds of solutions to Knowledge Management problems. Like its predecessors, PAKM2000 will provide ample time for interaction and discussion. By explicitly addressing interdisciplinary approaches to Knowledge Management, the PAKM conference offers a unique and new kind of forum.

Monday, October 30, 2000
9:00 - 10:00 Invited talk: Mario Raich: Human Capital and Knowledge Management in the New Economy

We are about to launch a large research project to define “Who is who in the New Economy”. The main purpose is to define which are the interesting new business ventures to look for new business and management practices and new business models. If you would be interested to participate in this research or if you know people that could be interested, please let us know.

The virtual Magazine 'Knowledge Economy' is free of charge.
If you know people that could be interested in this magazine, please feel free to forward them a copy.
We use a policy of 'Right to copy'. For details look at section 7 in the issue No. 1, January 2000.