4. Securing and managing knowledge: from theory to practice

While it is undeniable that know-how is a tangible corporate asset, conferring an image of quality, safety and security on the company that holds it, the fact remains that even within these institutions, the capitalization of knowledge, constituting the company's memory, remains fragile. This is due, among other things, to the weakness in the transmission of technical know-how, as seen above, both in the training of new employees and in the perpetuation of existing information when staff leave or a sector closes down. But beyond this notion of transmission, it would be pertinent to ask why know-how has remained a volatile asset for so many years. Indeed, if we take a more financial definition, the notion of a volatile asset defines a risk, and therefore potential amplitudes of variation: the higher the volatility of an asset, the more risky the investment in it will be, and the greater...