David W. De Long’s research while affiliated with Babson College and other places

Data remains one of our most abundant yet under-utilized resources. This article provides a holistic framework that will help companies maximize this resource. It outlines the elements necessary to transform data into knowledge and then into business results. Managers must understand that human elements—strategy, skills, culture—need to be attended to in addition to technology. This article examines the experiences of over 20 companies that were successful in their data-to-knowledge efforts. It identifies the critical success factors that must be present in any data-toknowledge initiative and offers advice for companies seeking to build a robust analytic capability.

What does it take for an executive to manage effectively in the new economy? While the explosion of Internet-centered business has produced an unrelenting focus on e-commerce strategies, new business models, and processes, surprisingly little attention has been paid to how e-business is changing the competencies needed to manage effectively in this new business environment. The authors describe the findings of research by the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change to discover the unique competencies that managers need to excel in the new economy. While some management competencies have changed little, research shows that e-managers need to develop new or stronger competencies in six key areas: fast decision making; partnering; knowing the technology; staying focused in spite of information overload; making sense of the future; and attracting and retaining talent.

Organizational culture is increasingly recognized as a major barrier to leveraging intellectual assets. This article identifies four ways in which culture influences the behaviors central to knowledge creation, sharing, and use. First, culture-and particularly subcultures-shape assumptions about what knowledge is and which knowledge is worth managing. Second, culture defines the relationships between l individual and organizational knowledge, determining who is expected to control specific knowledge, as well as who must share it and who can hoard it. Third, culture creates the context for social interaction that determines how knowledge will be used in particular situations. Fourth, culture shapes the processes by which new knowledge-with its accompanying uncertaintieswis created, legitimated, and distributed in organizations These four perspectives suggest specific actions managers can take to assess the different aspects of culture most likely to influence knowledge-related behaviors. This diagnosis is the critical first step in developing a strategy and specific interventions to align the firm's culture in support of more effective knowledge use.