Communication Networks as a Measure of Intellectual Capital and Organisational Performance

The needs of industry were analysed to identify and measure intellectual capital (IC) for the purposes of improving the sustainable competitive advantage. The need for empirical data is confirmed through a review of the organisational requirements and the dynamics of the interdependencies of the business processes. The primary needs of industry were identified as the lack of empirical values of the intangibles in an organisation that can provide a basis for better market performance. The needs reflect the requirement to assess the IC in the light of the strategic objectives and also in the light of the social and "lifeworld" needs of the employees. The conundrum of establishing empirical values for intangible assets was discussed as well as some of the contemporary methods of classifying and analysing IC. The current theories of IC assessment and valuation were then reviewed and several serious flaws in the theories emerge once they are viewed from outside their traditional University Faculty based disciplines. A transdisciplinary solution that utilizes the strengths of Knowledge Management, Social Theory, Business Theory and Information Systems reveals that a more pragmatic approach that quantifies rather than analysing the "intellectual" content, is possible. The relationship between the formulation of IC and communication channels in an organization was analysed from the theoretical frames. It was then postulated that these patterns provide empirical indicators of the transfer of IC and the benefits or otherwise that can be gained from the transfer. Historical data from a Case Study in the tertiary education industry was analysed to identify patterns that can be interpreted as indicators of IC transfer. Empirical data that resulted from the analysis of IC capital was then used to input Risk Metrics Analysis for near and medium -term and then long term forecasting through Futures analysis. The Case Study is consistent with the proposal that there is a correlation between the patterns in communication and the IC transfer and that they can be measured in empirical terms.