But one can say with confidence that they give only very partial attention to the intangible assets. I think that most executives are becoming more attuned to this issue. We call this the sudden-death syndrome, and it comes in part from not knowing how to nurture, harness, and grow your intellectual capital. And if they are being candid they will tell you, a glimmer of fear in their eyes, that they don't know. We haven't put the mechanisms in place either to monitor or to understand what is happening to our intangible assets.
Firms seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate.
We call this the sudden-death syndrome, and it comes in part from not knowing how to nurture, harness, and grow your intellectual capital. That means you can be losing customer capital by the ton and not even realize it. Think of a chart showing organizational capability, which is really based on structural capital, and market demands. Market demands are going up exponentially, so if your organizational capability is going up linearly, you're falling behind in your ability to meet customers' expectations. Even though your capability is increasing somewhat, you're losing ground.