Knowledge-Based Value Generation

Abstract

This chapter aims to characterize Knowledge Based Development (KBD) from the perspective of value systems. After an introduction to its purpose and scope, the chapter is divided into five sections. The first section looks into the distinctive aspects of human knowledge-based or represented experience as the rationale for both Knowledge Management and Knowledge Based Development. The concept of KBD is introduced as a distinctive category and as the basis of a new social paradigm of special significance in view of both the current stage of human evolution and our impact on other Earth systems. In the second section the emergence and evolution of KBD as a field of study and practice is overviewed. Thirdly, the received perspective of knowledge capital as instrumental to increasing monetary growth and accumulation is contrasted with an integrated approach where all value elements relevant to a group are balanced into a unified system of categories. Such radical approach to KBD recaptures the essence of human value production and allows the redesign of accountacy and management practices at the organizational level, as well as of cultural and political practices at the communitary and global levels. Next, a review of some of the most visible KBD research agendas shows the trends in the evolution of this area and suggests the viability of a global R&D agenda. Finally, the possible contribution of KBD as a language to articulate national and international consesus-building on the most urgent issues is discussed as a conclusion.