Knowledge connections as a pointer for models in e-business: some evidence from Australia

Abstract

Knowledge management and electronic commerce are both experiencing considerable popularity and rapid growth and both are exposed to the hyperbole of vendors and consultants seeking to profit from their expansion. Whereas both depend on the nature of their value propositions and infrastructures, human, as well as technological, knowledge acts as a unifying dimension between the two. The business models for both are heavily dependent upon the creation, acquisition and leveraging of various forms of knowledge and in practice these business models may well be complementary. This paper, which reports initial findings from a study of 2000 Australian companies, partly confirms the knowledge-based linkages in terms of job titles but reveals common weaknesses in the absence of community-building activities.