Abstract:

Kwoledge management in business circles has steadily increased. Since market research institutes are knowledge-intensive companies gathering and selling information to customers it is vital for these organisations to have access to the right information in the right form at the right place and at the right time to solve their customers’ problems. The paper describes how knowledge management systems can be organised to support electronic desk research in an efficient and cost- effective way. For this purpose a case study the mineral water market in Europe and in the United States is introduced to demonstrate the significance of Intranet systems and Extranets for supporting desk research. From this sample search recommendations concerning the organisation of an effective knowledge management system for desk research purposes are deduced and described; these are of general importance particularly to those involved in the process of planning establishing up-dating or maintaining such tools.