Knowledge management in the forest products industry: the role of centres of expertise

This paper is a critical review of knowledge management in the forest products industry and uses the framework of the knowledge value chain to outline the authors' findings. This chain is generally accepted as being the network of processes that increase the value of knowledge as it progresses from data to innovation. To face the challenges of a knowledge-based economy, forestry companies need to be aware of how knowledge is created and disseminated. There are numerous centres of expertise at work in the worldwide forest products industry. The authors suggest that the role of these centres is not just to create information and knowledge, but also to efficiently disseminate their findings to the industry. The case study of the FOR@C Research Consortium based in Quebec City, Canada is introduced as an example of the role that centres of expertise can play.