Part of the way we think of ourselves at MCB situated within the publishing industry is as an entity which aims to capture, create and disseminate information, intelligence and insight, more effectively than others in our field do. When others consume these ideas they spark actions and other ideas. If the actions and other ideas are similarly recorded, the process continues. This process has been considered under the heading of knowledge management and related terms such as intellectual capital. Internal structures , covering systems, patents, administrative capability, models, organizational culture and norms, computer systems External structures , covering customers, propensity for customers to rebuy and refer, suppliers, brand image Sveiby is discussing the area called intellectual capital.
Intellectual capital is packaged useful knowledge.
Knowledge which exists in the heads of employees, gathered from experience, personal intellect, personal characteristics is called tacit knowledge. If I die mid-sentence then what dies with me is all my tacit knowledge. To turn this tacit knowledge into more abiding assets I need to have it made into explicit knowledge. Matsushita Electronics are trying to make a bread-making machine but whatever they do, they can t get the thing to mix the dough correctly. One of their developers, Ikuko Tanaka, has a good idea.