Abstract

The transition of economies to become more knowledge-based has compelled companies to adapt to a greatly changing environment through an emphasis on knowledge sharing and positioning, and alignment with innovation, and its products/services and the market. For Saudi Arabia to achieve its 2030 Vision, this focus on developing knowledge-intensive capabilities, collaboration with other organisations, human capital, R and D, innovative thinking, and so on, has become critical. Interviews with three strategic managers at SESCO during the last quarter of 2020 were conducted to ascertain the positional relationship and alignment between knowledge, innovation, and product/service/market. The findings confirmed it is an example of a successful case of readiness for the Saudi 2030 Vision. In contrast with a decade ago, SESCO now has a greater focus on strategic knowledge positioning and sustained innovation, which are also strategically aligned with the third. The same was also explored for Saudi companies in general. The study did not only establish the importance of positioning of all three components, but also their mutual integration and alignment.

Key words: Innovation, strategy, knowledge-management.