Closely held knowledge
What is Closely held knowledge?
Secrecy limits access to reproducible knowledge.
How Closely held knowledge works
Assess how quickly observable outputs reveal the method and how independently a rival could recreate it. A method with several obvious substitutes may remain secret without protecting attractive returns.
The question to ask of a company
Could a rival infer the method from outputs, recreate it independently, or obtain it through ordinary employee movement?
Examples
- Illustrative scenario: A calibration method remains internal, but measurements on shipped devices might reveal it.
Who names it
| Author | What they call it / where it appears |
|---|---|
| Neumann | A Taxonomy of Moats — Closely held knowledge |
Note. The diagnostic and scenario are Strategy Canon’s analytical application. Test the firm’s benefit and exclusion mechanism separately; this category alone does not establish Power.