A conversation with Jim Botkin, President of InterClass

Conversations create the wealth of knowledge organizations. This conversation with Jim Botkin explores a variety of issues on how knowledge is changing how organizations create value as knowledge‐based enterprises. Jim Botkin argues that the knowledge framework is actually the larger context for organizations and that e‐business is actually a subset of its operations. Botkin also shares how knowledge has come to be a new factor of production in organizations. This is true for both “new economy” organizations and “old economy” legacy organizations. Even so, the acceptance of the knowledge movement is still tentative. The very name “knowledge management” still often implies information technology “applications” to key organizational visionaries and is not always well received. The controversies over nurturing knowledge communities within the framework of knowledge initiatives are also examined in the dialogue.