Book excerpt: This book examines the manner in which successful firms develop, transfer, protect, and capture value from technological innovation. In essence, it is about ?knowledge management?, which lies at the foundation of firm level competitive advantage in today's global economy. The essays contain some of the fundamental contributions to the field of knowledge management by one of its best-known thinkers; they also constitute an immensely practical guide for those managers who wish to look below the surface of what is going on in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.