With the emergence and strengthening of information and knowledge societies, the basis for calculating the value of organizations has changed dramatically.
On the one hand, we have the value that it has thanks to the contribution of capital goods, such as financial resources, land and the physical tools that make up tangible assets, which until a few years ago were decisive when it came to knowing the value in the organizations market.
These assets, which are normally easily measured and quantified thanks to their tangible nature, obviously remain valid, since the investment and effort that each organization has had to make to obtain them must be recognized. Although it is also necessary to recognize that these assets over time, as they are used, they wear out, depreciate and therefore lose value. For this reason, if a company only bases its value on physical assets, the growth processes will be more complex and less sustainable.
Thus, in the world of organizations, the need arises to know the objective value for certain and that which is not easily perceivable by the senses, but which definitely helps to build value for all the stakeholders within of the organization, represented by partners, executive members and collaborators, as well as outside of it, including Clients, Suppliers, Strategic Allies and the same competitors.
Thus, the importance of knowledge for the sustainable development of organizations is recognized, and although this valuable asset has been discussed since the 70s, in 1994 the first measurement model of this knowledge was known, with the Navigator model of Skandia AFS, implemented by Leif Edvinson in this multinational company in the financial field. Knowledge has been related to the capital generated by the intangible assets of organizations, giving it the name of Intellectual Capital.
From there, various tools have been used to identify the value that Intellectual Capital has for each organization.
One of the most recent models, based on the Intelect model promoted by dr. Eduardo Bueno, is the Intellectus model, also developed at the head of dr. Good in his capacity as Director of the University Research Institute (IADE).
The Intellectus model recognizes, as a result of its academic and practical research, five types of capital that are necessary in knowledge-based organizations:
1. Human Capital: Refers to the knowledge that resides in the people and work teams of the organizations, does not belong to the organization and is perhaps the most important when it comes to building Intellectual Capital, since it constitutes the basis for the other elements of it.
2. Structural Capital: It is all the knowledge that belongs to the organization and that in some way has been systematized and stored to be used and profited later. The ability of the organization to build this type of capital and make it available to members at its different levels, determines efficiency and productivity. Some examples are Information systems, processes, patents, among others. The structural capital is divided in turn into:
to. Organizational Capital
b. Technological Capital
3. Relational Capital: It is the value that relations with external entities have for the organization and that can determine competitiveness, such as customers, suppliers, government, among others. This capital is divided into two types of capital according to the degree of impact on the development of the business:
to. Business Capital
b. Social capital
Each of these components in turn has a series of variables and elements that allow the construction of indicator systems, with a high level of objectivity and relevance for the fulfillment of organizational goals.
Now landing the concept of Intellectual Capital, taking it from theory to practice, we see that knowledge is present in all organizations and that in some way it is being managed by all members, who in turn can contribute in different measures their own knowledge and taking advantage of that of their colleagues, as well as that of the organization itself to achieve their goals.
Currently, considering that knowledge management, organizational learning or intellectual capital models are relatively new in the business lexicon, there are still many of them that are not aware of their importance or presence, so it is rare They take advantage of all the advantages that this resource can provide, which makes a difference in all markets, because thanks to it, new opportunities that were previously distant can be developed, due to the support, collaboration and real participation of all members of the job.
We have human capital in companies from the moment we decide to initiate the employment relationship with a person who has a series of competencies, skills, experience and knowledge that he can contribute, generating value in the performance of his activities. This capital remains in the organization and can be maximized when efficient policies and means of communication are created that facilitate collaboration and exchange to use this knowledge. Stop being in the organization when the employment relationship with the person ends.
Structural capital corresponds to the norms, policies, general behaviors, patents developed by the organization and its members and, in general, all the knowledge that has been systematized. For its construction, technology tools are required, which can facilitate the process and this is when some emerge as knowledge warehouses, intranets or knowledge management portals 2.0, extranets, web portals, ERP's, CRM's, E-Learning tools, among others..
Relational capital arises from how the organization and its members relate to the external environment with clear objectives, such as the generation of value to customers and the construction of production chains with suppliers that can become value chains..
All these components are part of the companies. They are made tangible by way of tacit knowledge (Belongs to people) and explicit knowledge (Belongs to the organization). In order to create value for the organization and all its members while they remain in the former, it is necessary to create their own model, adjusted to the business culture, to facilitate knowledge management and see how to transfer ownership of knowledge to the organization so that it can be used efficiently.
When participation tools are created in the company, combined with policies that encourage creativity and innovation, seeking ways to keep people's knowledge up to date, through continuous training programs, which at the same time can be multiplied and transferred At different levels, we may be facing a knowledge management or Intellectual Capital construction system.
In conclusion, we see that in all organizations Intellectual Capital exists to a greater or lesser extent, now, in order to turn it into a competitive advantage, allowing the generation of value to all stakeholders, it is necessary to manage it in a conscious and coherent way with the strategic definition of the organization.
