Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-30

• Intangible capital management is the driver-Warren Buffet says Berkshire can afford to lose money but not reputation. http://bit.ly/enda3n #

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Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-25

• On the Google books settlement "only a digital public library will provide readers with what they require t… (cont) http://deck.ly/~0zJ2t #

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Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-24

• From Athena Alliance: The power of info from the bottom up (in the US federal govt?!) http://ning.it/fRUNkL I'm all for it. #
• I wish I thought this would address intangibles…FASB Parent Creates Working Group on Private Company Reporting http://t.co/z4Ptpfw #

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Competition vs. Collaboration – A warning for us all

I heard this interview of Diane Ravitch on NPR in the car the other day about why she went from being an advocate in the Bush administration of No Child Left Behind to being a strong critic. Her logic:

“There should not be an education marketplace, there should not be competition,” Ravitch says. “Schools operate fundamentally — or should operate — like families. The fundamental principle by which education proceeds is collaboration. Teachers are supposed to share what works; schools are supposed to get together and talk about what’s [been successful] for them. They’re not supposed to hide their trade secrets and have a survival of the fittest competition with the school down the block.”

This is a great reminder for us about strategic thinking in so many spheres. The power of knowledge in the intangible capital economy Read more

Smart Power at Africom and Boeing: A new business model for the intangible capital economy

Today’s New York Times explains the role of the U.S. military in this week’s multilateral efforts to create a no-fly zone over Libya. The effort is led by a group called Africom that is:

the military’s first “smart power” command. It has no assigned troops and no headquarters in Africa itself, and one of its two top deputies is a seasoned American diplomat…. is intended largely to train and assist the armed forces of 53 African nations and to work with the State Department and other American agencies to strengthen social, political and economic programs in the region, including improving H.I.V. awareness in African militaries and removing land mines.

This is the creation of a knowledge-based strategy for the U.S. military, leveraging its deep expertise in logistics, strategy and organizational development. If the U.S. did this ourselves, it would be too expensive—both in terms of dollars and political capital. But if the U.S. helps others do it, we are leveraging our knowledge and creating capacity in other nations.

There are huge political and strategic implications here that merit a lot of further discussion (as should any outsourcing decision in any organization). But for now, I want to focus on the “business model” of Africom. Because I see a parallel between this and the case of Boeing.

I’ve written a number of times about the Boeing 787, the new jet built with an unprecedented level of outsourcing and collaboration with Boeing suppliers. It hasn’t been an easy path and Boeing has received a lot of criticism. But I believe that Boeing is way ahead of everyone in taking this approach and learning from their mistakes long before others even think about trying this strategy.

And be sure that every successful organization will have to try this strategy in some form in the coming years. The essence of the intangible capital economy is maximizing the leverage of knowledge. And the best way to do that is to expand the network across which your knowledge is spread.

Smart Power. It’s about leveraging intangible capital.

Want to learn the basics of IC? Check out the free downloads from Intangible Capital: Putting Knowledge to Work in the 21st Century Organization.

Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-22

• FedEx CIO talking about application base as infrastructure, a "factory"…intangible capital is the new factory http://bit.ly/fn27v3 #
• Slides from social media @ XPX last week. #4 one of the foundations of biz in era of IC "the people outside know more" http://bit.ly/gDQ5pG #

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The doughnut hole in the corporate info universe

The CEO of a spin off from D&B, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, spoke recently to Bloomberg Businessweek about his company’s new business model:

“What we’re trying to do now is show a holistic picture” of what makes a business appear trustworthy, he says. “Credit is just one component…. D&B’s largest competitors these days are Google, Facebook, and Twitter.”…[the company] compiles credit files on private companies from public records, payment information supplied by vendors, and self-reported data such as financial performance. The company sells that data to corporations that use it for marketing and to evaluate credit risk.

I like their thinking and, of course, see more and more traditional businesses rethinking their business models for a social media world.

But there is something really important missing here. Read more

Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-19

• The people on the front line of nuclear energy http://nyti.ms/gAFEXH #
• Ken Jarboe's on the same page with us: Annual Capital Expenditures Survey and treatment of intangible capital http://feedly.com/k/fjHXfh #
• Dan Pink keeps challenging us…Does giving teachers bonuses improve student performance? http://feedly.com/k/eolKZV #

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Seeing the hidden value in companies

How’s this for making intangibles tangible? This photo shows me sharing the summary graphs from two IC Value Driver Reports that we recently completed:

The photo was taken earlier this week at the Exit Planning Exchange Summit 2011.  The twist was that the legend for the graphs was hidden by a red pattern that could be filtered out with special glasses. Read more

Intangible Capital Reading List on Twitter for 2011-03-17

• Good overview of COINVEST data on national investments in intangible capital http://bit.ly/fiT01s #
• Clarifying tweet from yesterday: On Facebook, you can participate using your business page as your log in (keep personal profile separate) #
• Congrats to everyone at #xpxsummit – great day, lots of different people and professions, all interested in building value 4 business owners #
• Yesterday at #XPXSummit – special glasses to see hidden corporate value! http://bit.ly/gKlxs8 http://yfrog.com/h3i34loj #

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