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Benefits Of Advantage For Competitive Advantage

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Introduction As we move from the information age into what Simson, Downe, and Ahmad (2011) call the knowledge age, knowledge is power. Ideally, the power lies with the organizations that are able to leverage knowledge for competitive advantage (Okorafor, 2014). More often than not, however, the power lies with the individual who possess the knowledge; often, that individual develops a sense of knowledge ownership which influences knowledge behaviors (Husted & Michailova, 2002; Peng, 2013; Wang & Noe, 2010). According to Nonaka (1991, p 96), “[i]n an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge.” The inevitable retirement of the more than 67 million eligible individuals and subsequent loss of employee knowledge, experience, and skills may signify a considerable loss of competitive advantage for organizations (Appelbaum et al., 2012). In an effort to leverage knowledge for competitive advantage, organizations must focus on recruiting new personnel with desirable knowledge skills or abilities and on implementing knowledge management systems (KMS) which capture, share, and use existing individual knowledge. Cabrera and Cabrera (2002) argued that organizations could better leverage organizational knowledge by implementing managerial interventions that address factors that facilitate KS. Empirical research identified the most common KS facilitating factors as rewards, organization climate, and leadership (Assefa et

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