Identificatie van cruciale kennis

Crucial knowledge is essential to an organisation: it is determinant to the organi-sation’s identity and distinguishes the organisation from its competitors. Crucial knowledge is the basis of the economic value the organisation adds. The objective of this research is the development of an instrument for identifica-tion of crucial knowledge in organisations. The central subject of this dissertation is the design, the construction and application of the research instrument Iden-tick. The instrument should enable to inventory and analyse knowledge within an organisation and to identify crucial knowledge. The main motive behind the development of this instrument is that previously no instrument was known to be suitable for the identification of crucial knowledge. Based on a number of different organisational theories, in this dissertation it is established that the importance of knowledge for organisations manifests itself as (1) a critical success factor, (2) a determinant production factor, and (3) an integral part of delivered products and services. The strategic position of organi-sations can be deduced from their core competence, their competitive advan-tage, and the way in which the primary processes in the organisation are struc-tured. The concept of core competence denotes the fact that an organisation has one or more central activities, from which it derives most of its added value. Competitive advantage denotes the organisation’s market position with regard to its competitors. The primary process is the collection of interconnected, activities that result in products or services.