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In this paper an attempt is made to forecast the production of natural rubber in India by using monthly data for the period from January 1991 to December 2005. The forecasts are obtained up to December 2008 using Linear Trend Equation, Semi-log Trend Equation, Holt’s Method, Winter’s Method and ARIMA Model. The accuracy of forecast obtained through various methods is compared with the monthly actual production data of natural rubber for the period from January 2006 to March 2007, the last month for which actual production data were available. This period is also used as a hold-out sample. It is found that Winter’s method gives the best result followed by Holt’s method and Semi-log trend equation. The MAPE of Winter’s, Holt’s method, and Semi-log trend equation are 8.01 per cent, 8.09 per cent and 8.12 per cent respectively. It is therefore suggested that Winter’s method could be used for forecasting the natural rubber production in India. The forecasting method for production of natural rubber in India, as shown in this paper, can be a very useful tool for the Indian rubber industry professionals and policy makers in India.

Knowledge is an important element for becoming a learning organization. It is the source of intellectual capital which is turned into customer value. In general sense it is information in action to solve problems and locate opportunities. It has fragmented, tacit and explicit forms and is codified as an object for inter-transferable exchange through a process. It follows a life cycle and is influenced by human and social factors, organizational structure and processes, technology adoption and a mix of various disciplines in management. However what exactly the knowledge constituents are, and in what proportions such constituents of knowledge are responsible for knowledge creation are not clearly understood in the management literature. The present study, through an exploratory research, is an effort to highlight the critical constituents of knowledge in organizations as identified from literature review. The paper looks at some of the important issues about Knowledge, the Knowledge Framework, the factors responsible for creating Knowledge & Challenges involved, for understanding an organization’s Knowledge orientation. This insight is helpful for an organization to understand its critical knowledge constituents, their impact in shaping organizational knowledge orientation and thus chalking out a knowledge strategy for a sustained competitive advantage

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