Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a system for cataloging, inventorying, selecting, measuring, valuing and matching Intellectual Capital skills and matching or inquiring of an individual&#39;s skills, and particularly to a system for finding candidates for an employment or consulting position having requisite skills, and more particularly to a system for creating a searchable knowledge base of individuals skills indexed in a hierarchical cataloging, measuring and valuation system. The present invention includes generating a list of Intellectual Capital Codes based upon a standardized skills catalog which contains a set of skill categories organized in a hierarchical manner with a unique code assigned to each category within each hierarchical level, wherein the combination of at least one code from at least one of the hierarchical levels forms an Intellectual Capital code.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a system for the cataloging, inventorying, selecting, measuring, valuing and matching Intellectual Capital and matching or inquiring of an individual&#39;s skills, and particularly to a system for finding candidates for an employment or consulting position having requisite skills, and more particularly to a system for creating a searchable knowledge base of individuals skills indexed in a hierarchical cataloging, measuring and valuation system. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Historically, businesses have been forced to base the valuation of human skills (or “Intellectual Capital”) of individuals, whether for employment, training, or acquisition purposes, solely on past performance and education. In the systems of the prior art, determining the Intellectual Capital of current employees or employment candidates has been inefficient, cumbersome and imprecise, often relying on subjective written skill descriptions that do not use any uniform, consistent or regulated terminology, which would allow for an accurate and systematic search and result in an unbiased and equitable comparison of candidate skills. 
     For example, an electronic search for employment candidates in this manner has typically been accomplished in the prior art by utilizing a database of candidate resumes, wherein the text of each resume is indexed in the database and is searched through a user interface. Because candidate resumes contain subjective written descriptions of the candidate&#39;s Intellectual Capital that can vary widely in terminology, key word searching of these databases to match a candidate&#39;s skills with the requirements of the position in question is inefficient and imprecise. 
     As the world moves into the information age, Intellectual Capital has become paramount in determining future success of businesses wishing to participate in the ‘new economy.’ The weakness of Intellectual Capital is the inability to measure it in any meaningful sense. 
     Accordingly, a workable and efficient system is needed for inventorying, measuring, and valuing an individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital, which can be used to create an Intellectual Capital code that embodies the relative value of that individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for cataloging, inventorying, selecting, measuring, valuing and matching Intellectual Capital and matching or inquiring of an individual&#39;s skills, and particularly to a system for finding candidates for an employment or consulting position having requisite skills, and more particularly to a system for creating a searchable knowledge base of individuals skills indexed in a hierarchical cataloging, measuring and valuation system. 
     The method of the present invention may include the steps of determining a hierarchical list of Intellectual Capital categories; assigning at least one of the individual skills to the Intellectual Capital categories; assigning an Intellectual Capital code to each of the assigned individual skills; and arranging the hierarchical list such that the combination of at least one Intellectual Capital code from at least one of the Intellectual Capital categories forms an individual Intellectual Capital code for the individual. 
     The apparatus of the present invention may include a data source for storing the aforementioned hierarchical list, a user interface, and a data source interface inventorying, selecting, measuring, valuing and matching Intellectual Capital and matching or inquiring of an individual&#39;s skills contained in the data source. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention used over the Internet. 
         FIGS. 2(   a )–( e ) are a series of computer screen shots of input forms submitted by a prospect using a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3(   a )–( c ) are a computer screen shots of results screens retrieved by a prospect using a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of preferred embodiments of the invention which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to a specific embodiment but are for explanation and understanding only. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the first step in the utilization of Intellectual Capital its measurement and identification. In order to properly inventory Intellectual Capital, a hierarchical cataloging system provides the most portability and is preferred. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, this catalog will preferably consist of five levels in the hierarchy, although more or less levels can be used. The preferred names for these five levels are Class, Knowledge Group, Skill Group, Skill Set, and Skills. These names are not meant to be exclusive or inclusive, but to be illustrative of the hierarchical nature of the categories. In this fashion, codes may be determined for each category within each level and from which a combination of codes from the different levels will result in an individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital Code. 
     One possible breakdown of this hierarchy is shown in Table 1: 
     
       
         
               
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Hierarchical Levels: 
                 Hierarchical Level Code: 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Level 1: Class 
                   
               
               
                 Category 1: IT (Information Technology) 
                 01 
               
               
                 Category 2: 
               
               
                 Level 2: Knowledge Group 
               
               
                 Category 1: Application Software 
                 09 
               
               
                 Category 2: 
               
               
                 Level 3: Skill Group 
               
               
                 Category 1: eMail 
                 55 
               
               
                 Category 2: 
               
               
                 Level 4: Skill Set 
               
               
                 Category 1: Server 
                 021 
               
               
                 Category 2: 
               
               
                 Level 5: Skills 
               
               
                 Category 1: iMail 
                 233 
               
               
                 Category 2: 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     For example, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, these codes may be used to create an individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital code such as “01-09-55-021-233”. The format of this number would be standardized for use in multiple applications. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of numbering schemes can be employed, such as decimal, hexadecimal, octal, etc. 
     The present invention also provides a way to weight the Intellectual Capital that is now identified by the Intellectual Capital code. For example, this measurement might include: “Last Year Used”, as well as “Number of Years Used as User”, “Number of Years Used as Planner”, “Number of Years Used as Developer”, as “Number of Years Used as Implementer” and “Number of Years Used as Certified”. 
     Thus a weighted Intellectual Capital code might look like: “01-09-55-021-233:2000/02/U0D00”. This individual would be, for example, a User and Developer for 2 years of IT-Application Software-Email-Server-iMail until the year 2000. 
     Moreover, a total dollar value of this individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital could also be determined based upon this example Intellectual Capital Code of 01-09-55-021-233:2000/02/U0D00. Dollar values may be placed upon each of the measured values. For example, it may be determined that value of the skill associated with the “Last Year Used” drops by $80 per year for each year prior to the present. And, for each year that that skill has been used the value of that skill increased by $120. And, being a User of that skill adds $20. And, that being a Planner of that skill adds $60, that being a Developer of that skill adds $50, that being an Implementer of that skill adds $40, that being Certified in that skill adds $50, and that the skill itself is worth $200. Combining these together, the value of this measured Intellectual Capital Code is $510. 
     This creates a catalog of skills, categories and codes, and a method of measuring and applying values to an inventory of Intellectual Capital codes created using the skills catalog, which may be stored in a data source. The data source of the present invention may comprise any number of data sources well known to those of skill in the art, such as relational databases or linked files. 
     Moreover, the standardization of the aforementioned catalog and methods could be regulated through an independent body, to allow transportability of this catalog and methods (or appropriate portions thereof) to different applications where the valuation of Intellectual Capital is necessary. A central repository of the codes would then exist, allowing any business to be able to determine the value of the Human Capital in their organization, and that determination would have meaning to anyone else having knowledge of the coding system. 
     In addition, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a recruiting business can also directly match the skills needed by a job opening to skills that a job seeker holds. The business will further be able to evaluate on that match utilizing the aforementioned valuation technique to significantly decrease the decision making time required by a recruiter in determining the value of a match. 
     The process in its simplest form will involve a business posting the skills it needs for a particular job, and a job seeker posting the skills they have. Both entities will also post other relevant information such as contact information, relocation, travel, training, education, etc. 
     The user will be able to select skills using a standard drill down multi-screen elimination process, such as in a sequence of Web forms as discussed in more detail below, or the user will be able to quickly search each hierarchy level name and associated keywords to get a list of appropriate skills. Utilizing this list, the user may also select multiple skills. On the final skill selection screen, the user will be able to enter the measurement characteristics for each skill to create an Intellectual Capital inventory for an individual or an Intellectual Capital requirement for a position. 
     An individual&#39;s Intellectual Capital inventory (as embodied in his individual Intellectual Capital code) may be entered using a variation of the above process, derived from the Intellectual Capital codes contained in the aforementioned skill catalog. In addition, the Intellectual Capital requirements of a job may also be entered using a variation of the above process, derived also from the codes contained in the skill catalog, creating a position requirement set. 
     Then a simple comparison or match of the Intellectual Capital (skills) inventory of various individuals and the position requirement set will reveal the number of matching skills. The matching skills may also be weighted to allow, for example, early disqualification of candidates for a specific job, and allow zeroing in on properly qualified candidates based upon the candidate&#39;s skills inventory compared to the position skills requirement. The results can then be displayed by various means well known to those skilled in the art to the user, based on the weighting or other criteria. 
     Upon finding prospective job seekers, the user will be able to compare side by side the skills that match and the relationship of the measurements of each skill, e.g. greater or less than the requirements. The user will also be shown the skills that the job seeker lacks and the skills that the job seeker has that the job doesn&#39;t require. The user will also be able to view other non-skill related comparisons such as relocation, travel, etc. 
     Some of the many significant uses of the present invention, which are not capable with the systems of the prior art, are, matching jobs, measuring the Human Capital value of a business, and evaluating training needs. It will also be appreciated to one skilled in the art that the system of the present invention could easily be utilized in a number of additional areas. 
     The data source interface used to accomplish the above tasks may comprise any of a number of such systems that are well known to those of skill in the art. For example, if the data source is a relational database, then the data source interface may comprise the corresponding database engine used to access that database. The user interface may comprise, for example, a graphical user interface that is integrated with the database engine, or may comprise a separate application, such as an Internet Web browser. Furthermore, the user interface and/or the data source interface may incorporate, for example, an Internet Web server, and possibly associated CGI (“Common Gateway Interface”) applications—all of which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic demonstrating the typical components used in a preferred embodiment of the invention when used over the Internet. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention, while described below in connection with its use over the Internet, is certainly not limited thereto. 
     An electronic document, such as a Web page created using HTML, is loaded into Document Viewer  1 . Document Viewer  1  may be any software application capable of viewing electronic documents and loading additional electronic documents from within the original document, such as through the use of a hypertext link or form (although not limited thereto). 
     For example, the Document Viewer could include a Web browser, such as Navigator from Netscape Communications or Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer. The electronic document may be loaded automatically when Document Viewer  1  is first started, or may be opened into the viewer by the user from a file stored locally or at a remote address. For example, the user may load the document by typing the document&#39;s address into the Web browser&#39;s command line. 
     Document Viewer  1  may be accessed by the user through any of a number of computer systems, such as through the use of a terminal connected to a mainframe system, from a personal computer, or over computer connected to a local computer network. 
     Document Viewer  1  is connected to the Internet along with Personal Computer  2 , through Network Connection  3 . This connection is typically made through local telephone lines using an analog, ISDN, or DSL connection, though it can be over a direct network connection, such as an Ethernet network and leased line. Network Connection  3  may be a computer network that routes any requests from Document Viewer  1  to the appropriate location on the Internet. This operation is well known to those of skill in the art. Network Connection  3  connects Document Viewer  1  to Web Server  4  through any of a number of well-known connection schemes, such as through the use of leased lines. This combination essentially comprises User Interface  8  in this particular preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     Web Server  4  is typically a software application running on a remote computer that is capable of forwarding or processing requests from Document Viewer  1 . For example, Web Server  4  may include any one of a number of well-known server applications, such as the NSCA Web server, the Apache Web server, etc. Web Server  4  passes a document request from Document Viewer  1  to Data Source Interface  5  for accessing Data Source  6 . Data Source  6  contains the complete hierarchical list of Intellectual Capital codes, and the information on each individual, job opening, etc. 
     After a document, such as an HTML form (or series of forms), is loaded into Document Viewer  1 , the user enters in the appropriate information and activates a hypertext link or form “Submit” button, generating a signal back to Data Source Interface  5 . This is preferably in the form of an HTTP request sent over the Internet using TCP/IP and possibly a Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”). The request may be routed through Network Connection  3  and through Web Server  4  to Data Source Interface  5 . It will be appreciated that the details of HTTP operation in conjunction with TCP/IP and SSL are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will, therefore, not be elaborated on here. 
     When the HTTP request is received by Data Source Interface  5 , it accesses Data Source  6  to retrieve the requested information based upon the signal from Document Viewer  1 . In one embodiment of the invention, a common gateway interface (“CGI”) program, well known to those of skill in the art, may be used to parse the data from Document Viewer  1 . This program acts as an interface between the Web Server  4  and/or Data Interface  5  and Data Source  6  by executing a set of instructions. The interaction of Web servers and CGI programs and the sending of information between them is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
     The CGI program may extract the document information from the information passed to it by the server and retrieve the appropriate information from Data Source  6 . This may be accomplished in a number of ways known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, if the CGI program is a PERL script or other API, a database access module can be used to interface with the majority of commercial relational database applications. Examples of such databases include Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server, and the like. It is also possible for these systems to be accessed directly by Web Server  4  using their own internal data engines. 
     Information is submitted to or extracted from Data Source  6 , depending on the signal sent by the Document Viewer  1 . Data Source Interface  5  then generates a signal back to Document Viewer  1  through Web Server  4 . 
     The system of the present invention may preferably be used by at least five types of users: a prospect, a client, a recruiter, a system manager, and the system administrator. It will be appreciated, however, that the present invention is not limited thereto and may include any users desiring to catalog, inventory, select, measure, value or match Intellectual Capital, or match or inquire as to an individual&#39;s particular skills. 
     A prospect, i.e. an individual desiring to enter his/her Intellectual Capital into the system of the present invention, and/or look for matching job openings, may enter skills into Data Source  6  using a series of HTML forms, as described above, through User Interface  8  and will have the ability to retrieve from Data Source  6  all of the job positions that fit those skills. Examples of such forms are shown in  FIGS. 2(   a )–( e ). 
     After receiving a request from the prospect, Data Source Interface  5  conducts a comparison of the information submitted by the prospect with the relevant information in Data Source  6  (e.g. job positions) using the hierarchical set of Intellectual Capital Codes described above. By using the hierarchical Intellectual Capital codes match information, the system of the present invention provides significant benefits over the systems of the prior art, including increased efficiency and accuracy in matching a request (e.g. for job positions) with items stored in the knowledge base. 
     Data Source Interface  5  then returns a set of results to the prospect through User Interface  8 . The results screen sent back by Data Source Interface  5  will display by percentage of match the jobs that the prospect might be interested in. An example of such results screens are shown in  FIGS. 3(   a )–( c ). 
     By clicking on one of the results contained therein, the prospect may then retrieve a detailed report from Data Source Interface  5  of the skills required for the position, which skills match his/her profile, and which skills don&#39;t. The prospect will have the option at this time to update his/her skill set, if necessary, this updated information is stored in Data Source  6  using the hierarchical set of Intellectual Capital codes discussed above. The prospect will also have the option to submit his/her interest in that position to a recruiter via email, or similar messaging systems well known to those of skill in the art. 
     The recruiter would then receive an email message from Web Server  4  or Data Source Interface  5  through Email Server  7  in a conventional manner with all the pertinent information needed to contact the prospect. The prospect also has the ability to edit their own Intellectual Capital codes in Data Source  6  through the use of a unique username and password. 
     A client, e.g. an employer using a recruiter that participates in the system of the present invention and looking for job candidates, enters their position information in a similar manner and receives a similar results page from Data Source Interface  5 . The results from Data Source Interface  5  will display by percentage the prospects that match the job by Intellectual Capital Codes—all personal information for the candidate stored in Data Source  6  may be left out. By clicking one of the results, the client can see exactly what skills the prospect has and what skills match. The client will have the ability to edit the position skills, adding or deleting skills as needed. The client will also have the option of submitting a prospect information request to the responsible recruiter—using email for example. 
     Each recruiter has control over prospects and clients they are assigned to. They can enter/update in Data Source  6  information about both prospects and clients, and can perform any of the tasks described above. The recruiter can also start the interview process during any phase by clicking an appropriate link provided on their HTML forms. This will retrieve a screen from Data Source  5  that will allow the recruiter to send a resume to any of the contacts listed in with a matching client&#39;s information. A recruiter&#39;s access may be limited to clients, prospects and interviews that are assigned to them, and, in this situation, a recruiter can only add clients, prospects, positions and the interviews that go with them. 
     The system manager has control over all aspects of the “Web site” (the combination of Web Server  4 , Data Interface  5 , and Data Source  6 ) including adding and deleting recruiters from the system and viewing recruiter activity reports. The manager has total control over all clients and prospects, and has total editorial control over all interview entries. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the manager can only add recruiters, clients, prospects and interviews. 
     The system administrator is responsible for the technical administration of the system and preferably has total unrestricted control over all users of Web Site. 
     The client recruiter (i.e. a recruiter working for a client), managers, and administrators all have control of the “interview process.” Taking this ability away from prospect recruiters provides the significant advantage that it allows for a more controlled process, and provides for responsibility in the interview process. 
     The interview process controls the flow of the interview status between the prospect and the client when the prospect is submitted for a position. Using, for example, a set of dropdown boxes on an HTML form to select the prospect and client, the recruiter can send the prospect&#39;s resume to the client through the use of the aforementioned Web site. Once the entry has been made, Data Source Interface  5  creates a record in Data Source  6  that will track the process. The preferred default phases are: Send Resume, Initial Interview, 2nd Interview, Tech Interview, Face to Face, Offer, Offer Accepted, Offer Rejected, Start At Work, Other, and Delete. The particular names and order of the phases can be changed by the administrator through the set up screen, and are not limited thereto. 
     During each phase, the client recruiter can choose to send out a preformatted email that informs each party involved of the action that took place. For example, if an Initial Interview was set by the client recruiter, an email can be sent automatically by the system containing all of the information needed to carry on that interview: phone numbers, times, names of everyone involved. These emails can be configured by the administrator through the setup screen or left at program defaults. They are then generated dynamically by the system and sent at the appropriate time. 
     Preferably, only the client recruiter (and managers and administrators) can edit an interview. This is to ensure the client recruiter is in total control of the interview process. 
     The ownership of a client or prospect may determined during login to the system of the present invention through Document Viewer  1 , when a cookie file (well known to those in the art) is placed on Personal Computer  2 , or other identification methods (also well known to those in the art) that will identify the user to the system. Ownership of clients and prospects is defined in Data Source  6 . Managers and administrators are preferably the only users that can change ownership, as this will enforce the integrity of the information. 
     Initially, an organization using the system of the present invention will preferably determine the nature of Intellectual Capital that they desire based on a target market, i.e., Oracle, JD Edwards, etc. Each Data Source  6  in each such system of the present invention may be populated with skills and Intellectual Capital Codes from the Central Repository  9  (described above) based on the appropriate Intellectual Capital catalog needed, and will be oriented towards the user based on the job or project in question. 
     For example, in an embodiment of the present invention used by an organization in the Information Technology (IT) sector, Data Source  6  would be populated only with Intellectual Capital code information related thereto, excluding other industries and business sectors. The administrator will populate Data Source  6  with the information on each recruiter associated with the organization. Each recruiter using that system will then be able to input clients, prospects, and positions. 
     Both clients and prospects will be able to remotely enter their starting information on the Web site without recruiter intervention, however after that preferably the recruiter will control their entries. Clients will preferably have a password to allow them to submit new positions. The recruiter will be notified by email and they will make the final decision whether the job is approved or deleted. 
     Once positions and prospects are entered into the database, the recruiter will be able to match them using the Intellectual Capital codes. This matching can generate both the position choices for the prospect, as well as the prospect choices for the position based on the predefined Intellectual Capital codes built into the portion of Central Repository  9  included in Data Source  6 . This is preferably a weighted match using a weighted Intellectual Capital code (as described above). From this screen, the recruiter will be able to initiate the Interview Process. 
     The recruiter upon finding a match sufficient to fulfill the skills requirements for a position, will then begin the Interview Process by submitting a resume to the client. The Interview Process will be controlled and monitored from within that portion of the Web site, providing a consistent method to follow and ensure communication is maintained. 
     The organization will have the ability to measure performance and monitor progress through a series of reports available to them from the information stored in Data Source  6 . 
     Although this invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the user interface, data source interface, and data source of the present invention may comprise a single software application, and may be operated from a single computer or a network of computers via the Internet or an internal intranet. Moreover, for example, a network of personal computers may be used, a mainframe system, or a server and peripheral thin clients.