Integrating option model and knowledge management performance measures: an empirical study

The knowledge-based economy is coming, and knowledge management (KM) has rapidly disseminated in academic circles as well as in the business world. While an increasing number of companies have launched into knowledge management initiatives, a large proportion of these initiatives are limited to a technical focus. The problem with this type of focus is that it excludes and neglects the true potential benefits that can be derived from knowledge management. This paper develops a new metric, knowledge management performance index (KMPI), for evaluating the performance of a firm in its KM at a point in time. We therefore suggest that a KMPI can be used to determine KM activities from the following perspectives: knowledge creation, knowledge conversion, knowledge circulation and knowledge completion. When KM activities efficiency is increased, KMPI will also be expanded, enabling firms to become knowledge intensive. This paper makes three important contributions: (1) it provides a formal theoretical grounding for the validity of the Black-Scholes model that might be applied to KM; (2) it proposes a measurement framework to enable knowledge assets to be leveraged effectively and efficiently; and (3) it presents the first application of the Black-Scholes model that uses a real-world business situation involving KM as its test bed. The results prove the option pricing model can act as a measurement guideline to the whole range of KM activities.