Perceptions on the use of a corporate business incubator to enhance knowledge management at Eskom

Abstract

The knowledge economy impacts on the way enterprises should address their business requirements, forcing many of them to review the potential mechanisms they could employ to improve their competitive advantage. The business incubator approach is one such mechanism. This article explores the application of knowledge management, knowledge creation and innovation in a corporate incubator. It focuses on the process of knowledge management, to ensure that a culture and appropriate strategies conducive to enhancing knowledge creation are developed in an enterprise. Innovation as a strategic imperative is considered, as well as the challenge of driving it within an enterprise. The purpose of this empirical survey was to determine whether the corporate incubator model applied by Eskom conforms to the attributes of knowledge management, knowledge creation and innovation, and whether the synergies to be exploited amongst these disciplines can be harnessed to give Eskom a competitive advantage.