Knowledge Management: A Crucial Asset toward a Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Apple Inc. and Samsung Ltd. Teaching Examples

Abstract

This paper aimed at highlighting the key role of knowledge management in transforming a firm into an innovative organization to make it achieve a competitive advantage so as to sustain and survive in today's changing and challenging business environment. Due to products life cycle shortening, the globalization, the technologies revolution era and customers increasingly demanding, the external business environment has become so rapidly changing and challenging that organizations are appealed to react accordingly in order to survive. Thanks to a broad literature review, we found out that many scholars share the same viewpoint according to which, an organizational sustainable competitive advantage in such a hostile and unfriendly environment relies on its ability to innovate, and to that end, an effective knowledge management has been regarded as the core source of innovation within the organization. Organizations like Apple and Samsung deserve to be regarded as teaching examples of knowledge management leading to sustainability. Our conclusion has been made so as to enhance the beliefs of both academic and professional managers in considering knowledge management the crucial asset, not an important asset but a crucial one, toward innovativeness and sustainable competitive advantage.