The 4th World Congress on Intellectual Capital took place at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from January 17 – 19, 2001. The chapters in this special collection highlight some the most cutting edge research in the field from that event. The conference itself was the largest academic gathering for intellectual capitalists and knowledge management theorists in the world attracting 536 delegates from thirty-two countries. This compilation represents the latest research from forty-one of the world’s experts in the fields of intellectual capital and knowledge management. The underlying theme in this book is to explain how an organization can identify, measure, manage, leverage and act upon its collective intelligence towards the pursuit of sustainable innovation. The book is divided into three main parts which first establish a foundation of literature, then examine various measurement approaches and finally, conclude with a variety of applications.
The first chapter by Nick Bontis and Danny Nikitopoulos provides an overview of the keynote presentations at the World Congress. The chapter highlights the key messages of such luminaries as Shahla Aly, VP Communication Sector at IBM Canada; Stephen Denning, KM Director of the World Bank; Don Tapscott, Chairman of Digital 4Sight; Ante Pulic & Ursula Schneider, Directors at the Austrian Intellectual Capital Research Centre; Tom Jenkins, CEO of OpenText; Leif Edvinsson, VP of Knexa.com Enterprises; Verna Allee, President of Integral Performance Group; and Don Morrison, COO of Research in Motion.
Chapter 2 represents a literature review by Nick Bontis originally presented at the 2nd World Congress on Intellectual Capital. It highlights the field of intellectual capital from a variety of perspectives focusing on its main conceptualizations and measurement challenges and sets forth a research agenda for the future.
David Brett introduces his concept of knowledge transactions in Chapter 3. When tacit knowledge is codified, it becomes copyrighted intellectual property. Unfortunately, today’s digital networks disrupt the traditional market exchanges that could have been used to trade these knowledge assets.
Finally, there are several individuals who I would like to thank who were instrumental in the compilation of this book. I would like to recognize President Peter George, Dean Vishwanath Baba, Dr. Chris Bart and Dr. Milena Head whose unwavering support of the conference is a testament to their continued commitment and positioning of intellectual capital and knowledge management research as a critical strategic thrust for the DeGroote Business School at McMaster University. I would also like to honour the twenty students who volunteered several thousand hours and numerous endless nights in organizing and running the conference. Much of the success behind the record-breaking results can be attributed to the three student co-chairs Meaghan Stovel, Don Newton and Constantinos Coursaris. I would also like to highlight two other students in particular that personally assisted me in recruiting speakers and organizing the conference: Brent McKnight and Anna Poliszot. The conference has secured some high profile sponsorship by corporate partners whose support is much needed and much appreciated. They include: OpenText, Research In Motion, the Austrian IC Research Center, MCB University Press, Knexa.com Enterprises, Canadian Business Magazine, Dofasco, Bell Canada, General Motors, IBM, AMS, AT Kearney, Gennum, BitNet, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Management of Innovation and New Technology Research Centre at McMaster University. Last but not least, I would like to thank Jennifer Pursley of Butterworth Heinemann and Steve Cavaleri of KMCI for making this project as smooth as possible.
