Intellectual Capital

By Thomas Stewart

Intellectual Capital  by Thomas A. Stewart. It is popular wisdom that Information is the capital of  this new era. But what does that mean to the management of people? How does the  rise of the Knowledge Worker change our company cultures? What challenges does  this age of Intellectual Capital mean for our clients. This book, long on my "to  read shelf," finally made it to the top of the pile, so here are my  thoughts.

Some of what  Stewart had to say seemed self-evident to me, but I should make allowances for  having spent the whole of my professional life in high-technology business. So  the idea that traditional employment salaries and compensation are based on the  "difficulty to replace" a worker is not new to me and the idea that "knowledge  workers" are among the most difficult to replace and so command the higher  compensation is, as I said, rather self-evident. Still, the way Stewart works  this, and other characteristics of the new age worker into a complete  understanding of the trends in employment were fascinating and compelling.

Thus, while the whole of this book  is of use and provides excellent working definitions of Intellectual Capital,  Knowledge Workers, and nurturing business environments for the new workers, the  most affirming part of Stewart's work for me was near the end. Chapter 12, Your  Career in the Information Age is the best summary of the trends in employment,  especially in those companies that invent or use new technologies, that I have  seen to date. The new career model that Stewart lays out is very much in keeping  with my observations of what is happening in our workforce today. And it show  exactly why we, as a society, will need a different approach to the unemployment  challenges we face.

Intellectual  Capital is a must read for those who want to understand what is happening in our  global business environment, what our prospects for employment will be, and how  we might arm ourselves to be successful in the Information Age.

[Click on the book  image to see it at Amazon]
 

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