Knowledge is critical to the daily operations and competitive advantage of a firm. Previously, knowledge that is internal to the firm and vital to its survival was managed without a systematic approach. With the advancement of information technology, and with the maturity in database management and information management, knowledge management began to attract more attention and generate more discussions. Knowledge management is the process in assisting organizations to identify, select, organize, distribute, and transfer important information and technical know how about problems solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning, and decision making. Knowledge management systems are systems targeting professional and managerial activities by focusing on creating, gathering, organizing, and disseminating an organization’s "knowledge" as opposed to "information" or "data."(Alavi and Leidner, 1999). This course provides a comprehensive of knowledge management, introducing topics like the origins and importance of knowledge management, the future and challenges of the knowledge market, knowledge management and organizational learning, knowledge management tools and techniques, case studies on how organizations utilize knowledge management and its critical success factors, and finally, the strategic use of knowledge management and its future trends. Specific topics include:

- The nature and management of knowledge
- The future and challenges of the knowledge market
- The origins of knowledge
- Knowledge integration
- Knowledge transfer
- Knowledge management and organizational learning
- Strategies in knowledge management
- Knowledge management case studies
- Knowledge management tools and techniques (e.g., data mining, text mining)
- Service innovation
- e-service