Companies that measure their intellectual capital can use it to:
- Create more value
- Improve products and services
- Drive sales and growth
- Increase efficiency
- And, deepen customer and partner relationships
That last point is key. Managing intellectual capital well can actually create more intellectual capital.
Intellectual assets include:
- Knowledge and skills of individual team members
- Research and innovation capabilities
- Organizational structure
- Information systems
- Any other intellectual property created by the company
Intellectual capital also includes strong relationships with customers and strategic partnerships with other businesses. It can also cover product development, any innovation or discovery made by the company, and any patents or copyrights that it owns. Original research and investigations also contribute to a company's intellectual capital. So do any data generated by the research. The impact of intellectual capital should not be underestimated. It can inform your decision-making processes and help you create strategies that improve your business. Building intellectual capital can improve business performance by contributing to the knowledge economy.
