While it is imperative to promote knowledge flows within a business, it is just as imperative to quarantine that knowledge from the outside world. A business' profitability and long-term viability depend on the cultivation and exploitation of distinct and protected knowledge stores. Such knowledge can be protected by the use of available bodies of law, including those commonly labelled intellectual property and theft laws.
This course examines the various legal frameworks that have been developed to protect information and knowledge and analyses the extent to which these laws can either promote or inhibit the flows of knowledge within a business or organisation. The course highlights why businesses promoting knowledge flows need to be aware of how their ability to do so is underpinned by a supportive legal framework and, just as importantly, how deficiencies in those laws require sophisticated and vigilant strategies to protect a business' knowledge stores.