For example, if a company scraps 100 forklift trucks before their depreciation is written off, it would be recorded as a loss for accounting purposes. And the stock market may actually recognize it as a gain. Many of the faults with today's information management practices can be traced to such bias, which favors accounting over knowledge-generating assets. One can view Knowledge Capital as the consequence of a stream of expenses that makes a company more effective. Meetings may contribute to greater employee awareness.
Training is useful if put to good use.
Software need not be an expense if it's reused. Everything that contributes to an accumulation of knowledge can become a capital investment with sound information management practices. Every manager should, therefore, monitor which portion of his overhead expense is temporary and how much of it builds capital. The right set of measures will help in explaining and justifying how to accomplish that objective. Reprinted by permission of Computerworld Go back up to the Strassmann, Inc. home page .