Knowledge Management Models and the Innovativeness of hightech Companies: The case study.

The article discusses the problem of the significance of knowledge management in contemporary enterprises. The timeliness of research problems in relation to this issue is confirmed by a comprehensive literature review. The article attempts to define individual knowledge management models and to define the essence of knowledge management in enterprises. These considerations have been extended with innovation which is crucial for 21st century companies. The publication covers empirical research of selected high-tech companies. This sector has been selected due to a noticeable lack of studies in this area. The research method used in the empirical part of the paper is a case study. Two high-tech companies operating in the IT industry have been selected. It has been essential to distinguish the criteria for selecting high-tech companies in the study. The objective of the conducted comparative analysis has been to examine what knowledge management model is used by the specified enterprises and what concept of innovation they have selected. The results of the conducted analyses indicate that enterprises take similar actions. Most of all, this is conditioned by the specificity of the sector and industry in which they operate. The subject matter of the publication is important and up to date, it covers two fundamental components of the operation of contemporary enterprises since both knowledge management and innovation constitute a constantly expanded scientific issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]