One of the most important chapters is Chapter 5. "The Treasure Map" contains information which can prove far more valuable to a company than any gold buried by pirates in the Caribbean. As with that gold, however, intellectual capital must first be appreciated; located and recovered; and then organized and managed with meticulous care. Hence the importance of Chapter 9 in which Stewart offers ten principles for managing intellectual capital. Hence the importance, also, of the Appendix in which he provides all the other "tools" needed.
Let the digging begin!
He made himself known in the field of IC when he wrote a ground-breaking-article in Fortune Magazine on June 3, 1991 under the title "Brainpower". In this article he wrote "Intellectual capital is becoming corporate America's most valuable asset and can be its sharpest competitive weapon. The challenge is to find what you have-and use it". Intense reader's reaction to this article eventually led to the writing of this knowledgable book.
He (Thomas Stewart) leads us by the hand, in defining Intellectual Capital and its widely accepted classification: human capital, structural capital and customer capital.
Even though this book is an excellent introduction to modern management; equal to or greater than reengineering; it is also of vital interest to present employees which are faced with potential unemployment, unless they understand what are the driving forces shaping today's corporations.
"Knowing" is the bread and butter in this ever- changing-turbulent-technology-driven economy. Thomas Stewarts explains why this information revolution is producing victors as well as victims. While there are companies flourishing in this uncertain economy like Wal-Mart, Microsoft, and Toyota, others are falling behind like Sears, IBM, and General Motors. While Akers was removed from IBM because of a great spiraling decline in growth and profits, Bill Gates at Microsoft was amassing double digit increases in revenues and profit. While Stempel watched GM's market share erode, Iaccoca and Eaton were increasing Chrysler's market share. While Sears was struggling, Wal-Mart was flourishing.
This book introduces us to hidden assets not reflected in financial reports, but fully responsible for creating wealth. Intangible assets like knowledge of a workforce, the know-how of workmen who come up with a thousand different ways to improve the efficiency of a factory. In a sentence: "Intellectual capital is intellectual material-knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience, that can be put to use to create wealth. It is collective brainpower."
After you read this book, you will then understand why your company is making all those changes, and perhaps, avoid your being part them in the process.
This is a 21st century book for people working in post-industrial societies learning how to survive in a fast paced environment without getting hurt.
Through clear examples and studies of well known and familiar marketing "phenomenon," we come to realize that we often misdiagnose both our successes and our failures when it comes to understanding why certain social changes stick. We are given the "real analysis" of why Blue's Clues and Sesame Street are great successes while other more deliberate attempts at "hooking" our children on educational TV failed. We find out why the New York City crime rate was drastically reduced by cleaning up graffiti on the trains and arresting the squeegee men at the toll booths. More importantly, we learn how to challenge the status quo in our ideas of why products and services might take off or fail in our business and non-profit organizations.
We also learn why growing an organization from 100 people to 150 people presents no difficulty, but growing that same organization from 150 to 200 is all but doomed to fail. Mr. Gladwell explains why context matters in our quest to understand the social trends around us. And we learn why telling medical students to rush makes them calloused citizens despite their normally compassionate tendencies. All of this information is important to those of us working to grow our institutions and manage our company cultures. Change management is doomed to fail without a deep understanding of the "Tipping Point" as clearly and eloquently explained in this excellent book by Malcolm Gladwell. This is a must read for anyone serious about understanding why little things can make a very, very big difference!