Impact Analysis of Intranets and Portals on Organizational Capital

This chapter analyzes the impacts of intranet quality on organizational capital practices. The chapter describes a research model empirically tested in 98 large Brazilian organizations. The variables proposed by the TAM (technology acceptance model) (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) and the TTF (task technology fit) (Goodhue & Thompson, 1995) were converted into portal’s context, emphasizing the importance of leveraging classical information science and information system studies to understand better the portal phenomenon. Furthermore, the knowing organization model (Choo, 1998) was applied in order to offer a theoretical support for the intellectual capital-based variables. The results give evidence that the portal quality has more influence on knowledge creation than on sense-making and decision-making. The chapter reinforces the usage of the Knowing Organization model as a framework to understand intellectual capital and knowledge management initiatives.

The Financial Valuation of Intangibles

This chapter proposes a method for the financial valuation of intangibles based on a specific taxonomy that distinguishes between intangible assets and core competencies, while classifying the latter into (tangible or intangible) asset-driven core competencies and non-asset driven core competencies. These are in turn classified according to the intellectual capital categories they drive. The method proposed is based on the assumption that the value of a company’s intangibles is to be found essentially in its core competencies. Financial valuation models based largely on the cash flow generated by the company and on real options valuation are proposed as a means of identifying and quantifying a company’s intangibles in monetary terms, taking the earnings they are capable of generating into account. This method is suitable for valuing the intangibles of large companies and smaller businesses where large databases are not available.

Intellectual Capital in Knowledge-Intensive Firms

During more than a decade, the literature has provided several intellectual capital models. Nevertheless, empirical evidence is still necessary in the field, and empirically supported models for classification and measurement of intellectual capital are not very common. This work finds the main components or building blocks of an intellectual capital balance sheet, taking the three most common components of intellectual capital (human capital, structural capital, and relational capital) and testing empirically if this grouping of intangible assets is supported by the evidence obtained from a sample of knowledge-intensive firms from Boston’s Route 128. Findings suggest a classification of intellectual capital according to four categories: human capital, structural capital, relational business capital, and strategic alliances.

The Impact of Information Technology on the Management of Intellectual Capital in the Banking Industry

This study seeks answers to two questions: what types of intellectual capital are affected by IT and how can IT affect these types of intellectual capital? An analysis of intellectual capital indicators of the banking industry using an input-process-output model reveals that the process mediator variables, namely management capabilities, are highly affected by information technology. These management capabilities include risk management, quality management, taking advantage of new opportunities, product development and delivery, marketing management, and fulfilling customer needs. Information technology plays a key role in supporting decision-making, making possible business innovations and tightening controls of various processes through its tracking, informational, dissemination, analytical, simulative, and detection capabilities. Moreover, disintermediation is possible because of information technology. Although limited to one industry, it is believed that the study results can provide organizations with useful guidelines for managing intellectual capital with information technology.

Knowledge Sharing in the Context of Information Technology Projects

The proposal for this chapter is to analyze the influence of knowledge sharing in the context of an IT project management. This study is a result of field research that enabled an investigation of the way knowledge sharing figured among the parties involved in the ERP (SAP R/3) system implementation project in a Brazilian Higher Education Institution, as well as the analysis of how this sharing influenced the project in question. Data was collected in semi-structured interviews, open questionnaires and from documentary analysis. The research enabled us to verify that the factors that influenced knowledge sharing and consequently the project itself can be related to the context and dynamics of the institution in which the system was installed, to the way in which the project was planned and conducted, and also to the individual characteristics of the participants.

The Impacts of Information Technology on the Stock and Flow of a Firm's Intellectual Capital

In this theoretical chapter, we examine the contribution of IT systems and tools to the emergence and use of different types of knowledge in a firm. We divide knowledge into explicit, tacit and potential and argue that these three types of knowledge characterize firms’ three main functions - operational effectiveness, gradual development, and innovation, respectively. On the basis of our examination, we conclude that the main part of IT applications serves dissemination, storing and acquisition of explicit knowledge. However, there are also some tools that serve the elicitation of tacit and potential knowledge and the conversions between tacit and explicit knowledge. At the end of the chapter, we evaluate more generally the potential provided by IT. We argue that the addition of “a human touch” to the information produced and conveyed by IT is an emerging issue. We present two ways in which this can be done: the use of IT for the development of social capital in a firm, and the use of external experts—knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS)—as supporters in firms’ knowledge functions linked to IT.

The Intellectual Capital Statement

The aim of this chapter is to examine how firms measure and report their knowledge-based resources. In the first section of the chapter we analyze the intellectual capital construct and its sub-constructs. In the second section, we review basic models for measuring intellectual capital. The third section examines guidelines for measuring and reporting intellectual capital. Based on the analysis of intellectual capital statements published by 28 pioneering firms from Europe and India, section four explores key issues on building this innovative report. Finally we present major conclusions and implications for management.

Information Technology, Social Capital, and the Generation of Intellectual Capital

Networked collaboration, which spans functional, formal and hierarchical boundaries, has become increasingly important for all types of organizations. Communities rather than formal organizations are the social context in which most knowledge sharing, creation and learning take place. With the spread and evolution of information technologies, an increasing amount of interaction and communication is conducted online, in virtual communities. In this chapter we examine how different types of virtual communities function as platforms for the formation of social capital, which in turn enable production of new intellectual capital. We propose information technology-enabled social capital as a framework for understanding how organizations generate intellectual wealth. Specifically, we claim that social capital in physically-based virtual communities improves the incremental continuous development of existing intellectual capital, while in Internet-based communities it facilitates generation of new intellectual capital through radical innovations and paradigmatic change.

Human Capital Architecture and its Utilization in Accounting

This chapter provides an alternative method of measuring and disclosing human capital items in financial statements. First, we explain the necessity of properly disclosing human capital information in financial statements. We then go on to define and classify human capital within our theoretical framework; sort out human capital investments according to cost development stages in human resources; isolate human capital from expenses; and suggest the proper method of disclosure in the financial statements. Finally, we show the results from an empirical study we performed to test the validity of the human capital architecture and its relationship with firm performance.

What is Intellectual Capital?

Today, intellectual capital is widely acknowledged as a principal driver of performance and a core differentiator for both private enterprises and governments. This interest in the topic has caused a flurry of activities across many disciplines from accountants, to HR professionals, to strategists. Where this has raised the profile of intellectual capital, it has also caused significant confusion about what intellectual capital is. What is often not clearly understood is that intellectual capital is a truly multidisciplinary field. This chapter outlines how intellectual capital as a theme has evolved in different academic disciplines and discusses interdisciplinary views on intellectual capital. It also outlines some of the major issues to be addressed as well as some possible avenues of how to take this important field forward.