In re-reading articles on the resource based view of the firm (Rumelt, Peteraf), I think there are significant implications for knowledge management. Knowledge effectively is a strategic resource. Many of the core RBV concepts apply to it: heterogeneity across organizations gives knowledge value; it must be acquired with ex-ante and ex-post limits to competition (i.e. for it to have excess value, you cannot have paid it's exact value in acquiring it nor can you sell it for the exact value that it is worth to you); finally there must be some type of cospecialization of resources that makes the knowledge uniquely valuable to your firm.
I think consulting organizations (and probably law firms, etc.) are a great example of this. The firm's themselves do a great job of creating knowledge within the individual employees. This knowledge can be considerably different and specific to the organization for which the individual consultant works. And the individual's knowledge is worth far less when separated from the knowledge of his/her colleagues - as evidenced by the drop in bill rates that most independent consultants see when they leave their firm. The idea can probably be adapted to knowledge at any level in an organization.
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