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Review of Managing Intellectual Capital
Technovation 23 (2003) 183 www.elsevier.com/locate/technovation
Book review Review of Managing Intellectual Capital David Teece, Oxford University Press, 300 pages, ISBN 0 19 829542 1 This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the business economics of the knowledge economy. As such, it is of great interest to all scholars and business practitioners concerned with the firm-level (micro) and economy wide level (macro) foundations of the knowledge driven economy. The book provides a valuable conceptual framework for understanding precisely how the knowledge economy functions and how firms need to compete to remain competitive. Teece develops a rigorous analysis of modern concepts such as ‘tacit’ and ‘explicit’ knowledge. With his characteristically scholarly approach, Teece offers guidance on how companies can unlock their stores of ‘intangible assets’ by unleashing the capabilities and unique skills embodied in the practitioners and managers of companies. The book shows how and why knowledge-based assets are central to the competitive advantage of modern firms, and provides countless insights into how firms are able to deploy strategies to exploit their knowledge assets. As Teece shows, organisational capability must be combined with a new approach to strategy to realise
the rewards from innovation in the knowledge based economy. The book was written prior to the collapse of the US stock market in 2000 and the subsequent shock waves which followed in its wake. It was also written prior to the shakeout of the ‘dot.com’ companies, the wiping out of equity value and the evidence of US accountancy and management malpractice following the collapse of Enron and WorldCom among others. Professor Teece would therefore perform a valuable service to the academic and business communities if he could now write a further chapter (or a second edition) dealing with these deep structural problems and crises, drawing out the implications of the events of the past two to three years. Guidance on these matters would help ensure that those in business and government charged with the vital task of managing intellectual capital for competitive advantage were fully informed of the dangers and pitfalls, as well as the benefits, of competing in the knowledge based economy. Mike Hobday, SPRU, University of Sussex, UK E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/S0166-4972(02)00119-0
Book review Review of Managing Intellectual Capital David Teece, Oxford University Press, 300 pages, ISBN 0 19 829542 1 This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the business economics of the knowledge economy. As such, it is of great interest to all scholars and business practitioners concerned with the firm-level (micro) and economy wide level (macro) foundations of the knowledge driven economy. The book provides a valuable conceptual framework for understanding precisely how the knowledge economy functions and how firms need to compete to remain competitive. Teece develops a rigorous analysis of modern concepts such as ‘tacit’ and ‘explicit’ knowledge. With his characteristically scholarly approach, Teece offers guidance on how companies can unlock their stores of ‘intangible assets’ by unleashing the capabilities and unique skills embodied in the practitioners and managers of companies. The book shows how and why knowledge-based assets are central to the competitive advantage of modern firms, and provides countless insights into how firms are able to deploy strategies to exploit their knowledge assets. As Teece shows, organisational capability must be combined with a new approach to strategy to realise
the rewards from innovation in the knowledge based economy. The book was written prior to the collapse of the US stock market in 2000 and the subsequent shock waves which followed in its wake. It was also written prior to the shakeout of the ‘dot.com’ companies, the wiping out of equity value and the evidence of US accountancy and management malpractice following the collapse of Enron and WorldCom among others. Professor Teece would therefore perform a valuable service to the academic and business communities if he could now write a further chapter (or a second edition) dealing with these deep structural problems and crises, drawing out the implications of the events of the past two to three years. Guidance on these matters would help ensure that those in business and government charged with the vital task of managing intellectual capital for competitive advantage were fully informed of the dangers and pitfalls, as well as the benefits, of competing in the knowledge based economy. Mike Hobday, SPRU, University of Sussex, UK E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/S0166-4972(02)00119-0