Knowledge management is an end unto itself. In fact, while creating new knowledge, organizing it so others can use it and passing it on to succeeding generations is a defining human trait, business organizations should use knowledge management to build market value and competitive strength. Knowledge is a big percentage of the value of all goods and services produced in every industry. Knowledge management just means hiring smart people. While it is true that people are the main sources of knowledge, it's what people do, not just what they know, that adds value to firms.
Knowledge management means implementing expensive technology.
Technology certainly plays a key role, especially in distributing knowledge. But technology alone won't improve a company's knowledge management or make it more competitive. Knowledge management means creating huge, unwieldy databases. But these aren't the firms that get business value from their knowledge. In the movie of the same name, a mystical voice tells the main character that if he builds a baseball field in his backyard, the legends of baseball will appear.