Innovation management using intellectual capital

In a borderless economy, corporations must search for new solutions to overcome problems that have an immediate impact on their competitiveness and a long-term impact on their survival. These solutions are usually found in developing innovations in strategies, products, processes, and marketing. However, for these innovations to come to fruition, corporations must be able to harness the intellectual capital within them. The intellectual capital is knowledge built up over the course of the corporation's business and serves as a vital resource for moving to a more effective and efficient business model. Therefore, it is important for industrial practitioners to think about the concept and purpose of intellectual capital. R&D, which drives the creation of new industries and businesses, is the key focus for the future of the company. The conduct of this vital task is enabled by intellectual capital that is constructed through continuous accumulation and updating of knowledge. Advanced information technology plays an important role in this effort. Strategy innovation at Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) is shown as an example of how intellectual capital can be employed to enhance a corporation's competitiveness. At SEI, Decision Management (DM), a computer-aided management technology, and Score Method, a management system of individual projects in R&D, are applied for strategy planning and R&D management. These technologies position a company for the future advanced information society, in which global networks will take on greater importance, and where intellectual capital will also be of global proportions. The survival of an organisation will depend largely on how successfully it can use the global network. In conclusion, it is very important to shift the corporate philosophy from tracing the past achievement to focusing on the future strategy making full use of intellectual capital.