Organizational intellect
INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
- Organizational Intellect
"In the information age, the emphasis was on context; in the intellectual age - content; and in the internet network age - connectivity."
Thomas Stewart.
Thomas Stewart, a member of the editorial team of the business magazine - "
FORTUNE
" in New York, wrote several articles on the topic of organizational intellect. In his definition, organizational intellect is the sum of all knowledge of all company employees, which gives the company its competitive uniqueness, or that can be used to generate profit for the company.
Stewart, T., & Ruckdeschel, C.(1998).
On Human History and Thought Evolution in the Labor Market
Throughout human history, four major revolutions can be identified that created long-term implications and changed the way we perceive life in general, and human employment in particular. The first, the agricultural age, lasted for nearly ten thousand years, followed by the industrial age which lasted 200 years, the information age which lasted 50 years, and the "conceptual age" which has continued for the last ten years.
Between each age, human development improved in the way natural resources were handled and society developed. Each age advanced human history and streamlined the method of operation from the old age. For example, the industrial age changed the nature of work, and transferred workers from fields and the world of agriculture to assembly-line work in closed buildings and factories. The conceptual difference of that period was reflected in the transition from working the land and growing products to working as part of an assembly line and producing products industrially. In other words, the human need changed and consumption, which was previously family-based, expanded to urban.
Furthermore, part of the industrial development, which included opening up the possibility to export and import products, connected the ends of the world and allowed purchasing and selling "without borders". The emergence of a new market segment, not based on a local population, changed the perception of what a customer is, what they look like, and how close they are to me, and paved the way for the information age and the internet.
Pietersen, W. (2010).
https://bit.ly/2ITotqH
The information age, in turn, symbolized a transition from "health and wealth" based on natural resources, to economic prosperity based on the human mind. The global village that was created allowed the transfer and sharing of information of all kinds. Stewart (1998) defines the peak of the information age in 1991 - the year in which the amount of money spent on equipment for collecting information was greater than the amount of money spent on equipment for processing physical resources.
The transition to the information age enabled connection and data flow. The strong information flow allowed connecting opinions, thoughts, actions, and phenomena worldwide. The flooding of the world with information changed human needs in turn, and was reflected in the rapid transition from the information age to the conceptual age, which was much faster than all the periods we went through before it. The conceptual change was reflected in the fact that while the information age dealt with data volume and distribution, the conceptual age looks at data from a broader perspective, thinking about how to understand and manage it. The conceptual age emphasizes data merging and management -
zoomout
, while the information age relates to the analysis of the data itself -
zoom in
.
As part of the change in transitioning to the conceptual age, the ability to manage and analyze information has also become an organizational asset. This raises the question: how to quantify this knowledge? How can it be incorporated into the company's financial framework?
While a certified accountant can tell you the payment amounts for all company employees, they cannot tell you the costs of replacing an employee in terms of knowledge and skills. According to Stewart, the challenge is to distinguish between employee costs and the value the employee brings.
(For a more complete picture of employee skills and values: https://bit.ly/2Uarsfv Knowledge-based Work
Work involving planning, supervision, scheduling, and management has become part of the hourly worker's job description. Today's factory worker is probably in a position requiring more knowledge and information processing than their predecessor. An example can be seen at
Corning
, where in 1972, two-thirds of its employees used their hands and worked with tools, while today, two-thirds use their minds and work with concepts, data, and information. Another example can be seen in the "McDonald's" chain, which introduced automation to its branches - machines replacing salespeople, while the role of remaining salespeople has become
supervising those machines
, essentially taking responsibility for the connection between machines and customers.
In early industrial times, the organization owned the tools and soft resources as well as the product until it was sold. The ordinary worker was kept outside the large systemic thinking of the product creation process. Today, the information worker is highly mobile and can independently apply their skills in different places and organizations.
According to Stewart (1998), it's worth distinguishing between data and knowledge, and between employees' actual work and the knowledge accumulated in their minds. For example, the difference between knowing the inventory in box
A
on a given day, versus knowing where to find information about the inventory on any day. People know much more than they think. And today they can build themselves a network of profitable knowledge from any job/experience/role.
Sources of Organizational Intellect
-
Human Knowledge, the individual's ability to provide solutions to customers, initiate and drive actions. "Ideas are free" but the ability to systematically organize and implement an idea is related to the employee's traits and skills.
-
Structural Knowledge, the ability to "take" human knowledge and circulate it within the company repeatedly to create profit. Essentially, the management of human intellectual assets. Using thinking teams, presentations, and topic lectures before audiences to stimulate joint thinking and idea renovation.
-
Customer Knowledge, the value of the organization's relationship systems with those they do business with. In the information age, it's easy to know the current customer's history, actions, and decisions, enabling the creation of joint initiatives.
In Summary - Building Your Career in the Information Age
Stewart (1998) suggests working on something you love, that interests you, and that you've experienced over the years. He suggests viewing a "career" as a series of projects. He recommends seeking quality teams or players in the field, joining them, and learning from them. The advantage is that when you're a quality player, others will seek you out and you'll be able to choose your projects.
On whether to pursue a general or specialized skill, Stewart suggests that a specialized skill will provide more high-level employment and appropriate salary, but as a specific skill, it can lose value after technological developments or labor market changes. Conversely, developing general skills allows you to be more "fluid" and adapt to the changing labor market across a wide range of jobs, but with lower compensation. For a broader picture of your skills and personality - https://bit.ly/2XsrYY4
What do you think about building a career in today's conceptual age? Was Stewart right? Write to us.
Pietersen, W. (2010).
Strategic learning: How to be smarter than your competition and turn key insights into competitive advantage. John
Wiley & Sons.
Rensi, E. (2018) McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks .Retrieved from: https://bit.ly/2U9Qj2P
Stewart, T., & Ruckdeschel, C. (1998). Intellectual capital: The new wealth of organizations.
p;
37(7),56-59.
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