Maris G. Martinsons

China's high-priority effort to become a more knowledge-based economy and society means that knowledge management (KM) is increasingly important. For example, the timely transfer and use of business knowledge can provide a competitive advantage in practically any given industry. Despite its enormous promise in business and science, effective KM also faces formidable obstacles. Here, we explore the most notable ones in the China context.We have used surveys, interviews, focus groups, longitudinal case studies, and anecdotal information for more than a decade to develop an understanding of how knowledge is managed in China and its role in the country's drive for global competitiveness. KM in China is distinctive, constrained somewhat by technological limitations, but influenced more significantly by psychological factors (such as cultural values) among groups and social levels. Here, we describe the distinctive aspects of knowledge generation, documentation, transfer, and use that prevail in China today, highlighting the key factors influencing Chinese KM.

Charles Zhang is founder, chairman, and chief executive of Sohu.com, a company incorporated in the U.S. state of Delaware with headquarters in Beijing. In 2004, Sohu took in more than $100 million (U.S.) in revenue by providing online information and services. Zhang established the company in 1996 as Internet Technologies China and two years later launched the first Chinese-language search engine Sohu, or "search fox." Sohu.com was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in July 2000; its market capitalization topped $1.4 billion in 2003 before declining in 2004.Zhang pioneered the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship in mainland China and is often referred to as China's Bill Gates. In 1998, Time Digital named him one of the world's Top 50 Digital Elite, and the World Economic Forum identified him as a Global Leader of Tomorrow. In 2003, he was featured in Time magazine as one of its 15 Global Tech Gurus, and in BusinessWeek as one of 25 global e-business CEOs. In 2004, he was selected the Distinguished Executive of the Year by the (U.S.) Academy of Management. He spoke with me during and after the 64th Annual Meetings of the (U.S.) Academy of Management in New Orleans, August 2004.

In the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte predicted "When China awakens, it will astonish the world." China's recent stirring from its centuries-old slumber has far-reaching implications for international business and politics, as well as for science and technology development.For much of the last two millennia, China was one of the world's greatest economies and most technologically advanced societies. In recent centuries, however, the Middle Kingdom stagnated as other parts of the world experienced the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the emergence of computer-based IT. Since paramount leader Deng Xiaoping opened China's door to the outside world in 1979, an infusion of market economics, foreign capital, and modern technology has been restoring its historical prominence [8]. From a global perspective, the country has gone from near irrelevance during the 1960s to being quaint, exotic, and inscrutable before emerging as a heavyweight. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 will celebrate the country's latest rise and represent an important milestone in its transformation from isolated Maoist state to full-fledged member of the international community.