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Intellectual Capital as a new source for
inspiration and ideas
Dr. Petros A. Kostagiolas Assistant Professor
Department of Archive, Library Science and Museology
Faculty of Information Science and Informatics
Ionian University
Ioannou Theotokis 72, Corfu 49100, Greece
Grampian Information
Conference 2014
“Inspiration for Innovation: from
Ideas to Reality”
In composing this talk, I have
drawn material from a book I
have recently published on
Intellectual Capital
Management in Libraries
Kostagiolas, P. (2012)
“Managing Intellectual
Capital in Libraries: beyond
the balance sheet”, Chandos
Information Professional
Series, Oxford, U.K.
Background – Main Source of Presentation
Our departure hypothesis can be stated as follows:
“the decision-making mechanisms in libraries and
other memory institutions should take into account
the value “hidden” into the intellectual capital
resources held by those organizations”
Intellectual capital can be a source for creativity and
innovation ... especially in a period of economic crisis
Departure Hypothesis
Intellectual capital is fostering innovation and is an
important value creator.
New resources are constantly required since the library
business environment is becoming more and more
complicated and knowledge based.
Investments in intellectual capital are either mis-
measured or not measured at all.
Departure Assumptions
Modern Times for Library
Management:
why the Management of
Intellectual Capital matters?
Definition & categorization of
intellectual capital
Intellectual Capital Management
for innovation, quality, value
creation and impact
Further considerations...
Structure of the presentation
• The deeper is the economic crisis the fewer are the information
services provided; but the demand for such events increases.
• Fiscal crisis dramatically reduces public funding, and reduces the
ability of the private sector to contribute...
• Competition for the scarce tangible resources is increasing.
• Non-for Profit individual initiatives is increasing.
• The sustainability of libraries is judged solely upon economic criteria
... disregarding in many cases the social capital creation and role.
Intellectual Capital versus Economic Crisis
• Prosperity from mid-20th century and until
the economic crisis of 2008 …
• Expansion of existing libraries
• Development of new libraries
• Digitization and new library-programs
• Number of users increased
• Library Science has been established as a developing discipline
• Over all these years libraries in Greece remained highly dependent
upon the state funding and (unfortunately) the BUREAUCRACY
INCREASED…
• Economic crisis consequences are increasing year after year…
An example: The impact of the economic
crisis on libraries in Greece
The term Intellectual (or Knowledge) Capital has
received different interpretations according to the
different academic disciplines, i.e. accounting,
economics, law, management etc.
Three terms are widely used:
Intangible Assets — in accounting literature,
Knowledge Assets — by economists,
Intellectual Capital — in management and law.
Equivalent interpretations of
Intellectual Capital
An omnibus definition is
the “totality of
intangible/knowledge
assets/resources held
by an organization
that are amassed over
time, not included in
the balance sheet and
identified and
analyzed
distinctively.”
A definition for Intellectual Capital
Intellectual capital has always been present in libraries ...
Infrastructure, processes and
systems of a library that
enable the work of the
human capital as well as the
organizational philosophy
and structure; management
systems and other
information systems; patents;
copyrights etc;
Knowledge that remain
within the library at the end
of the working day.
Resources linked to the
external environment of the
library.
Library networks;
Library’s reputation –
goodwill;
User loyalty
Human Capital Organizational Capital Relational Capital
Intellectual Capital Categories
Includes the knowledge,
experiences, competencies and
creativity of the staff;
Knowledge that employees
take with them when they
leave the library;
It is the knowledge in peoples’
minds, is a totally portable
resource and an enormous
capital asset.
1
1
Categories
of Intellectual
Capital
Indicative Intangible Assets/Resources
Human Capital
Staff training / education
Staff quality / competence / skills
/ experiences / talents
Attributes
Learning culture
Innovation culture
Structural or
Organization
Capital,
Contracts
copyrights
Digitized collections
Access policies
Quality and safety systems
Accreditation/certifications
Branding
Knowledge based teams
Staff Information
Remote services
Repository
Archive
Systems for
network
development
Website
Security
Relational Capital
Relationship with stakeholders
Networking and cooperation
Participation in innovation
networks;
Personnel networks
Professional Networks
Users’ Trust/
loyalty
User training
Intellectual Capital Management (IC Management) is defined as the deployment and
management of intellectual capital resources and their transformations (into intellectual
capital resources or into traditional capital resources) to maximize library’s value
creation in the eyes of its stakeholders.
Defining Intellectual Capital Management
in Libraries
-2-Measurement
-1- Identification -3- Action
Intellectual Capital investment criteria:
• Valuable
• Durable
• Scarce
• Inimitable
The three steps of IC Management
a. How influential is a given intangible resource upon the
library’s ability to create value?
b. What is the level of quality held by the intangible resource
as compared to the ideal intangible resource quality?
c. What is the quantity of intangible resources that the library
should acquire, as compared to an ideal situation?
d. How the reliability/ durability of a specific intellectual
capital resource can be measured and impact on future
utilization?
IC Management “worriers” …!!
REMEMBER … the socioeconomic environment and indeed the Global Economic Crisis put pressure to Libraries to prove their
Worth!!! Three core constructs...
PERFORMANCE = QUALITY & VALUE & IMPACT
Strategic goals of Intellectual Capital
Management
How “good” is the library?How good it
does?
Chances it
creates?
• Users – Society
• Other organizations – economy
• Employees – Volunteers
• Information material/ collections
• Partners & competitors
• Processes for library operations
• Information Services
• Information Technologies
Desired “Value(s)” and “Impact” need to be agreed among the
stakeholders!
These concepts are often subjective, difficult to measure and often “lie
in the eye of the beholder”!
Inspiration drivers for creating
Value & Impact
Capturing persons’ “talents” and skills for specialized services;
Information distribution agreements;
Insurance contracts;
Service level agreements with suppliers and/or specific groups of
users (user and subscription rights;);
License rights for the protection of intellectual property;
Branch contracts for services provision “outside” the main library
infrastructure.
Examples of Intellectual Capital resources
that are expressed through contracts
Human Capital
Team development
Motivation index
Flexibility index
Experience & training
Structural Capital Usage of Library Systems & Usage of WEB 2.0 Services
Value of Library Collection
Leadership index
Flexible practices
General culture of the library
Management systems (business plans, quality certification)
Information literacy [email protected] 19
Indicative Intellectual Capital Metrics
for Libraries
Relational Capital
Loyalty and trust
Agreements/ contracts with
external parties
Reputation/ Fame
Brand name
Efforts to date focused on demonstrating economic value or impact library service activity (outcome)
Need to assign economic value and measure intellectual capital socially oriented outcomes or aspects of a library
activity
Financial Capital versus Intellectual Capital
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/adv
ocacyuniversity/toolkit/makingthecase/li
brary_calculator
A Methodology for developing a hierarchy of
Intellectual Capital Resources
Research Goal: A
hierarchy among the three
IC categories in terms of
their contributions in
improving library
performance.
Developing a hierarchy of Intellectual Capital
Resources in terms of their contributions
Like every innovative concept, intellectual
capital has created dilemmas and
uncertainties, since we can only approximate
the degree to which we gain advantage from
any intellectual capital management activity.
The prevailing library management paradigms do not appropriately handle the entire significance of knowledge assets/resources as value and impact creators; while professionals must be properly skilled for knowledge capital management techniques.
Further research results of practical and
theoretical nature are required allowing the
decision making mechanisms of libraries to
identify and manage its core intangible
recourses.
Summary – Final Thoughts
I would like once again to express my gratitude
for the invitation at the conference and RGU
ANY QUESTIONS?
If you think of something later, please contact me – [email protected]
THANK-YOU!
