Executives in companies today have vast knowledge sources to tap into when their companies run into trouble. They have their own experience, reams of computer data, and consultants as a knowledge base for making decisions. With so much knowledge available, however, organizations still often fail to take the necessary action to solve their problems. In The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action, authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton explain how companies can put their knowledge to work.
After four years of research in more than 100 organizations, the authors identified five sources that stop effective action in its tracks: hollow talk, debilitating fear, destructive internal competition, poorly designed and complex measurement systems, and mindless reliance on precedent. Published by Harvard Business School Press, the book includes eight strategies to help an organization turn knowledge into action.
