Leif Edvinsson

Carol Yeh-Yun Lin

Over the past decade, knowledge assets and intellectual capital have been attracting an increasing amount of attention, not only from academics and CEOs, but also from national policy makers. To date, most studies of intellectual capital have focused at the organizational level, with an emphasis on explaining the role of “intangible assets” as a differentiator between accounting value and market value as a possible source of corporate competitive advantage. More recently, pioneers in the field, including the authors of this book, have begun to apply these methodologies to a broader scope, with the objective of comparing the intellectual capital indices at the national or regional level. As a result, an increasing number of world organizations and researchers are commissioned to investigate this future-oriented crucial national issue. Yet, the linkage between the value of intangible assets and how to quantify or benchmark it is still tenuous, not to mention easily misunderstood by a layman for guiding better decision making. With the belief that numbers talk and statistics hide valuable information, this book serves to present the authors’ research findings, covering 14 years (1995-2008) of intellectual capital information, comprised of human capital, market capital, process capital, renewal capital, and financial capital for 40 countries. The last three chapters go beyond analysis of current intellectual capital factors, and present practical tools for launching initiatives at the national level. The book will serve as an essential resource for researchers, policy makers, and business leaders concerned with issues of economic growth and competitiveness, innovation, and business creation.

A Comparison of 40 Countries

National Intellectual Capital

Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos

This book presents a global view of digital and knowledge-based economies and analyses the role of intellectual capital, intellectual capital reports and information technology in achieving sustained competitive advantages in the globalized economy. Intellectual Capital in the Digital Economy reviews the state of the art in the field of intellectual capital and intellectual capital reports, exploring core concepts, strengths and weaknesses, gaps, latest developments, the main components of intellectual capital, the main sections of the reports, and indicators of each component. It presents experiences from pioneering companies and institutions in measuring intellectual capital around the world. It incorporates an interdisciplinary and cross-sectorial approach, offering a comparative view of intellectual capital reports elaborated in different regions of the world. This book presents case studies and experiences on the building of intellectual capital reports in organizations. In addition, the book discusses the benefits and challenges of building intellectual capital reports in smart economies and societies. This book is of direct interest to researchers, students and policymakers examining intellectual capital and the knowledge-based economy.

Intellectual Capital in the Digital Economy

Eskil Ullberg

This book examines the role of intangible assets (IA) in companies and countries for achieving sustainable economic growth. The authors particularly focus on Sweden and other Nordic countries to analyse the IA gap using a systematized “IA metrics” approach. They also discuss the incentives needed for strategic investments into useful IA to gain national competitiveness from an economic, social and environmental policy perspective. The authors contend that despite the increasing importance of IA and intellectual capital (IC) in the economy, the current discussion has only been centered on intellectual property, which is one of the more prominent forms of intangibles. As this book demonstrates, IC and IA encompass wider dimensions of human, process, market, and renewal capital, among others. Featuring real case examples from Spotify, Minecraft and Izettle, this book offers a strategy for the resurrection of competitive advantage in the globalized economy and the advancement of some key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mapping and Responding to the New Economy

Intangible Asset Gap in Global Competitiveness

Florinda Matos

Valter Vairinhos

Paulo Maurício Selig

The objective of this book is to explore the relationship between intellectual capital management and the sustainable development of organizations and society. To do so, it introduces readers to the topic of intellectual capital in the context of several connected entities such as organizations, cities and regions, sharing insights that both reflect the status quo and demonstrate the need for further action. In closing, the book presents practical cases to verify the impact of intellectual capital management on sustainable and competitive development.

Perspectives for Organizations and Society

Intellectual Capital Management as a Driver of Sustainability

Isabel Salavisa

Maurizio Massaro

The impacts of the digital transformation on society in general, and particularly on people’s lives, are the subject of increasing debate among policymakers, researchers and industry. This book explores the challenges of this new revolution, identifies solutions, and demonstrates how knowledge management can enable the transition process associated with the digital transformation, guided by the principles of sustainability. Featuring contributions by experts from diverse areas of science and business – on topics ranging from the digital transformation of knowledge management in the public sector, to the creation of sustainable smart cities, regions and countries, and from using AI for business models to food security – it provides a comprehensive discourse on the digital transformation’s impacts on employment, education, governance, social life, sustainability, values, the economy and democracy.

Approaches for a Sustainable Future

Knowledge, People, and Digital Transformation

Jeffrey Chen

Tord Beding

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the biggest event of worldwide proportion was the 2008 global financial crisis, which was caused primarily by ineffective governance, failed surveillance systems and implementation flaws. While fiscal and monetary policies succeeded in pulling many countries out of a financial freefall, most economies have performed beneath pre-recession levels as governments continued to struggle with their finances. Examining the financial crisis from the viewpoint of intangible assets provides a different perspective from traditional economic approaches. National Intellectual Capital (NIC), comprised mainly of human capital, market capital, process capital, renewal capital and financial capital, is a valuable intangible asset and a key source of national competitive advantage in today’s knowledge economy. The authors—pioneers in the field—present extensive data and a rigorous conceptual framework to analyze the connections between the global financial crisis and NIC development. Covering the period from 2005 to 2010 across 48 countries, the authors establish a positive correlation between NIC and GDP per capita and consider the impact of NIC investment for short-term recovery and long-term risk control and strategy formulation. This book summarizes and synthesizes the data presented in a series of eleven SpringerBriefs volumes on “National Intellectual Capital and the Financial Crisis,” concerning the co-developments between NIC and GDP growth and describes the internal and external factors that influenced the relative success or failure of national strategies in weathering the crisis. The authors go on to explore the impacts of various policy reforms, including stimulus packages and consolidations employed around the world, with particular respect to the factors enhancing or impeding short-term recovery versus long-term growth. Finally, they propose a new model of “sustainable national intellectual capital” and challenge readers to consider how to pass on a healthy globe and harmonious society to the next generation.

Navigating Intellectual Capital After the Financial Crisis

Peter Pawlowsky

Kreativität und Ideen, Wissen und Kompetenzen sowie die Vernetzung und Kooperation der Mitarbeiter gewinnen für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Unternehmen eine immer größere Bedeutung. Experten eines interdisziplinären Teams um Peter Pawlowsky und Leif Edvinsson beschreiben die Entwicklung und die praktische Umsetzung von Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) Ansätzen und zeigen Wege auf, das Thema in die betriebliche Praxis und die politische Öffentlichkeit zu bringen. Anhand einer großangelegten repräsentativen Unternehmensbefragung schildern die Autoren den Stand der Umsetzung in die Praxis in Deutschland und identifizieren wichtige Treiber für erfolgsrelevantes ICM in Unternehmen.

Leif Edvinsson

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