A collaborative knowledge management tool for product innovation management

Contemporary business systems are becoming increasingly competitive. Faster and smarter technology, although imperative, is not enough to survive in dynamic environments. Modern enterprises must adopt a deliberate and systematic approach to managing the drivers of innovation in order to create and deliver innovative new products and services and thus maintain competitive advantage. Managing the enterprise's knowledge base and converting intellectual capital into useful products and services is fast becoming the critical executive skill of the age. With this in mind, our research focuses on adopting a knowledge management approach to product innovation management. This paper reports on the findings of a case based research investigation. It introduces the concept of knowledge management for product innovation and presents a collaborative knowledge management tool specifically designed to help manage a portfolio of product innovation projects in a distributed environment.