Rating: 
Summary: The Practicality of Knowledge
Review: Book Review - Joe Pulichino, Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University; President, Athena Learning Group The New Organization Wealth - Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets is quite a practical book for managers seeking to get theirs arms around those intangible corporate assets that cannot be easily measured. It's also valuable for those in the fields of knowledge management and corporate education who are wrestling with ways to facilitate the development and productivity of their organization's human competencies. Although Sveiby's argument that intangible assets can account for the difference between a company's market capitalization and its net book value may not seem so persuasive since the dot.com collapse, his categorization of those assets as "employee competence", "internal structure", and "external structure" is useful as a way of thinking about the character and value of knowledge in an organization. Much more so than the vague catch-all asset of "good-will", knowledge, though also intangible, is an asset that can be created, managed, and measured, and can serve as the focal point for developing a strategic business model. Sveiby demonstrates this through a wide range of case studies. Especially useful is his "radical notion" that "information is meaningless and of low value". When we consider how much money and human resources are expended on technologies that collect, store, and retrieve information, this will be an uncomfortable notion for many. However, Sveiby, supported by Michael Polanyi's theory of tacit knowledge (The Tacit Dimension, 1967), makes clear that information does play a role in knowledge creation and transfer. As a means of broadcasting articulated knowledge, information provides raw material, the stuff out of which people create knowledge through their interaction with it and with each other. Knowledge thus created is called competency by Sveiby and is defined as the "capacity to act". Sveiby then introduces the subject of managing intangible assets by making useful distinctions between the roles of professionals and mangers in the "knowledge organization". He discusses how their competencies are best managed and transferred so that the flow of knowledge through the organization (its internal structure) leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness in managing the flow of knowledge in customer and supplier relationships (its external structure). His model leaves business managers with a choice between a knowledge-focused strategy, which "earns increasing returns primarily from intangible assets", and an information-focused strategy, which "earns increasing returns from adapting to information technology". To account for it all, Sveiby lays out a non-financial system for measuring intangible assets. While providing some thoughtful perspectives on how one might do this, it is not clear that in the end these forms of measurement have the same utility and precision that financial measurements do. It is fair to say, however, that these types of measures, which include surveys, indices, ratios, and rates of changes, do offer indicators that can help to monitor actions that will develop, maintain, and grow these assets. In the final paragraph of the book, Sveiby admits, "I do not believe that the information in a book such as this can really change anything", and in saying so remains true to his thesis: "The only valuable knowledge is that which equips us for action and that kind of knowledge is learned the hard way - by doing." He invites his readers to experiment with the information in his book and by doing so turn it into knowledge. The practicality of The New Organization Wealth - Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets is therefore dependent on what the reader does with the information it contains.
Rating:
Summary: The Practicality of Knowledge
Review: Book Review - Joe Pulichino, Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University; President, Athena Learning Group The New Organization Wealth - Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets is quite a practical book for managers seeking to get theirs arms around those intangible corporate assets that cannot be easily measured. It's also valuable for those in the fields of knowledge management and corporate education who are wrestling with ways to facilitate the development and productivity of their organization's human competencies. Although Sveiby's argument that intangible assets can account for the difference between a company's market capitalization and its net book value may not seem so persuasive since the dot.com collapse, his categorization of those assets as "employee competence", "internal structure", and "external structure" is useful as a way of thinking about the character and value of knowledge in an organization. Much more so than the vague catch-all asset of "good-will", knowledge, though also intangible, is an asset that can be created, managed, and measured, and can serve as the focal point for developing a strategic business model. Sveiby demonstrates this through a wide range of case studies. Especially useful is his "radical notion" that "information is meaningless and of low value". When we consider how much money and human resources are expended on technologies that collect, store, and retrieve information, this will be an uncomfortable notion for many. However, Sveiby, supported by Michael Polanyi's theory of tacit knowledge (The Tacit Dimension, 1967), makes clear that information does play a role in knowledge creation and transfer. As a means of broadcasting articulated knowledge, information provides raw material, the stuff out of which people create knowledge through their interaction with it and with each other. Knowledge thus created is called competency by Sveiby and is defined as the "capacity to act". Sveiby then introduces the subject of managing intangible assets by making useful distinctions between the roles of professionals and mangers in the "knowledge organization". He discusses how their competencies are best managed and transferred so that the flow of knowledge through the organization (its internal structure) leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness in managing the flow of knowledge in customer and supplier relationships (its external structure). His model leaves business managers with a choice between a knowledge-focused strategy, which "earns increasing returns primarily from intangible assets", and an information-focused strategy, which "earns increasing returns from adapting to information technology". To account for it all, Sveiby lays out a non-financial system for measuring intangible assets. While providing some thoughtful perspectives on how one might do this, it is not clear that in the end these forms of measurement have the same utility and precision that financial measurements do. It is fair to say, however, that these types of measures, which include surveys, indices, ratios, and rates of changes, do offer indicators that can help to monitor actions that will develop, maintain, and grow these assets. In the final paragraph of the book, Sveiby admits, "I do not believe that the information in a book such as this can really change anything", and in saying so remains true to his thesis: "The only valuable knowledge is that which equips us for action and that kind of knowledge is learned the hard way - by doing." He invites his readers to experiment with the information in his book and by doing so turn it into knowledge. The practicality of The New Organization Wealth - Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets is therefore dependent on what the reader does with the information it contains.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Business is business, they say, but the knowledge management business is something else entirely. Author Karl Erik Sveiby earned his doctorate with a thesis that draws an interesting distinction between information and knowledge. This book owes a great deal to the research in that thesis, although some of the subtleties were probably lost in the translation after it was presented at Stockholm University. Dr. Sveiby offers managers a plausible structure for stratifying their employees. He provides a solid rationale to justify rationing resources and information. We [...] recommend this book to knowledge managers. Professionals who feel they are not receiving adequate support, information, or compensation from managers also will find succor in these theories.
Rating: 
Summary: The New Organizational Wealth
Review: Ever wonder why the market value of a company is so much higher than the "book value" of a company? Sveiby tells us it is the intangible assets of a company that make up the difference. In The New Organizational Wealth Sveiby focuses particularly on knowledge organizations for whom the intangible assets are particularly crucial. He describes the three categories of intangible assets (employee competence, internal structure and external structure) and, with examples from the real world, recommends strategies to maximize these assets through recruiting, management, organizational structure and thoughtful customer selection. The final section of the book provides concrete nonfinancial measurements we can each use to monitor these important intangible assets. The New Organizational Wealth is a terrific book and a superb reference for the measurement of intangible assets!
Rating:
Summary: The New Organizational Wealth
Review: Ever wonder why the market value of a company is so much higher than the "book value" of a company? Sveiby tells us it is the intangible assets of a company that make up the difference. In The New Organizational Wealth Sveiby focuses particularly on knowledge organizations for whom the intangible assets are particularly crucial. He describes the three categories of intangible assets (employee competence, internal structure and external structure) and, with examples from the real world, recommends strategies to maximize these assets through recruiting, management, organizational structure and thoughtful customer selection. The final section of the book provides concrete nonfinancial measurements we can each use to monitor these important intangible assets. The New Organizational Wealth is a terrific book and a superb reference for the measurement of intangible assets!
Rating:
Summary: The New Organizational Wealth
Review: Ever wonder why the market value of a company is so much higher than the "book value" of a company? Sveiby tells us it is the intangible assets of a company that make up the difference. In The New Organizational Wealth Sveiby focuses particularly on knowledge organizations for whom the intangible assets are particularly crucial. He describes the three categories of intangible assets (employee competence, internal structure and external structure) and, with examples from the real world, recommends strategies to maximize these assets through recruiting, management, organizational structure and thoughtful customer selection. The final section of the book provides concrete nonfinancial measurements we can each use to monitor these important intangible assets. The New Organizational Wealth is a terrific book and a superb reference for the measurement of intangible assets!
Rating:
Summary: Tangible categories for measuring intangible assets.
Review: Karl Sveiby does an excellent job of breaking down the measurement of intangible assets into 3 manageable categories, employee competence, internal structure, and external structure. One of the best aspects of Sveiby's writing is his summaries and advice for managers at the end of each chapter. This provides succinct advice on how a manager should operate in a knowledge environment and continue to be successful. Sveiby does a nice job of pointing out the differences between traditional "old school" models of management and organizations versus todays knowledge organizations. Sveiby's action plan for implementing and measuring a knowledge-focused strategy at the end of the text in table format could prove to be one the best tools in measuring a knowledge initiative.
Rating:
Summary: An in-depth provocative exploration of intangible assets
Review: Karl-Erik Sveiby is one of the foremost thinkers working in the field of intellectual capital. His hands-on experience in working with intangible asset creation lends insight and practical application to a profound new way of thinking about value. Anyone who is ready to welcome a new way of thinking about value and corporate performance measures will benefit greatly from reading this book. Verna Allee, author The Knowledge Evolution
Rating:
Summary: A definitive book by the founder of the KM movement
Review: KM is neither about databases nor about sentimentality. Karl-Erik was one of the first to link a new understanding of organisational life to the new trends seen on stock exchanges world wide. Before you start your KM initiative on shaky ground and huge IT investments - read this book & really understand the knowledge organisation.
Rating:
Summary: A definitive book by the founder of the KM movement
Review: KM is neither about databases nor about sentimentality. Karl-Erik was one of the first to link a new understanding of organisational life to the new trends seen on stock exchanges world wide. Before you start your KM initiative on shaky ground and huge IT investments - read this book & really understand the knowledge organisation.
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