Normann and Ram rez were right on target when they stated that the essence of strategy is the way companies link together the only resources that really matter in today s economy: knowledge and relationships, ^[1] in their classic Harvard Business Review article, From Value Chain to Value Constellation. Together, knowledge and relationships are the only true sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, knowledge itself is all about relationships between people and organizations.

The twin themes of knowledge sharing and relationships are deeply entwined, and ultimately inseparable. Becoming more effective at both sharing knowledge with clients and developing enduring and profitable client relationships establishes a bedrock foundation for achieving sustainable competitive advantage in times of dramatic, ongoing change.

It is now widely acknowledged in the business community that knowledge is the most valuable resource of organizations. The evangelizing work of business people and writers such as Tom Peters ^[2] and Tom Stewart ^[3] has helped companies to understand the fundamental importance of knowledge to their sustained profitability in a rapidly changing business environment and the foundations of how to leverage their knowledge to achieve better business results.

Until recently, however, the emergent field of knowledge management has focused almost exclusively on how firms can make their knowledge more productive in their internal processes. This strong internal focus reflects more generally how clients often seem to be regarded as something separate and distant to which services are provided, and from which revenue and perhaps feedback ultimately return. There has been...