The need to manage knowledge more effectively is necessitated by a changing competitive environment. When functioning in a global economy, companies can no longer expect that the products and services that made them successful in the past will keep them viable in the future. Instead, companies will differentiate themselves on the basis of what they know and their ability to know how to do new things well and quickly. Hence, the changes and pressures of a rapidly changing global, information-based economy make knowledge vital to organizations.