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take advantage of the appropriately acquired equipment and systems in their work, or to sell or maintain them, de- pending on the sector. In addition to ensuring that there is sufficient staff available, management should also ensure that the right kind of experts are in the right positions and that resources of tangible capital support their work.26
DO WE HAVE ENOUGH MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE?
However, it is justi able to ask whether we have enough management expertise to respond to the challenges of the changing times. Making use of and managing intan- gible capital requires that the company's management is able and prepared to analyse critically not only the questions related to the operating environment but also their own management skills, management practices and attitudes regarding management. The management culture in regrettably many companies still re ects the old management methods from industrial times, ac- cording to which it was the management’s exclusive right to plan, organise and supervise work. However, these traditional models cannot work in a situation in which the employee's knowledge, skills and especially their willingness to give and share their expertise in their own organisation determine the company's success.
In the everyday reality of every organisation, matters are interpreted from different points of view and in many different ways, from individual points of view. This is the power and the danger of intangible capital. Unless the people in the management understand that the actions and attitudes of the members of the organisation, cus- tomers and other stakeholder groups are formed not only by facts but also by interpretations and points of view, management will focus on analysing and commu- nicating quantitative and measurable facts instead of creating an atmosphere and meanings.
The most important skill a manager can have today is the skill to create meanings and have an active role in the process that creates meaning. By enabling and encouraging as well as building meaningful channels and ways of interaction, a manager can ensure the best foundation for the growth and bloom of both human and collective intangible capital in his or her company. The most important skill a manager can have today is the skill to create meanings and have an active role in the process that creates meaning. By enabling and encouraging as well as building meaningful channels and ways of interaction, a manager can ensure the best foun- dation for the growth and bloom of both human and col- lective intangible capital in his or her company.
Fortunately, the management is not on its own in carrying
out its challenging task: today it is widely recognised that management is not an individual performance but that leadership builds on relationships. All members of the or- ganisation together participate in building intangible cap- ital – in future this will hopefully take place on an increas- ingly equal level regardless of the formal status of people.27
Investing in intangible capital is worthwhile: A unique and strong operating culture and organisational identity, a motivated staff that is committed to the organisation's values and goals, long-term relationships based on trust with stakeholder groups or an organisational atmos- phere that has a positive attitude to change and reforms can all be sensed but cannot be copied by a compet- itor as the entity of intangible capital always develops in a different way and the result is different in different organisations. This is exactly why intangible capital is of- ten the key factor explaining the success of a company.
20 See e.g. Sveiby, K. (1997). The new organizational wealth. Man- aging & measuring knowledge-based assets. San Francisco: Ber- rett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
21 Choong,K.K.2008.Intellectualcapital:definitions,categorizationand reporting models, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 9 (4), p.609-638.
22 Edvinsson, L. & Sullivan, P. 1996. Developing a Model for Man-
aging Intellectual Capital, European Management Journal, 14 (4),
p.356–364.
23 Puusa, Anu (2014): Strategia on tiekartta. In Yrittäville. Suoma-
laisille. Yos! Yrittäjyyden Osaamiskeskus, Yrittäjän MBA – ohjelma. Akateeminen yrittäjäkoulu. Antero Koskinen (ed.).Savilahden Kir- japaino Ky. p.87-108.
24 Seee.g.Viitala,R.(2005).Johdaosaamista!Osaamisenjohtamis- en teoriasta käytäntöön. Helsinki: Infor and Roos, G., Fernström, L., Piponius, L. & Rastas, T. (2006). Aineeton pääoma. Johdon käsikirja. Helsinki: Edita Prima Oy.
25 Puusa, Anu & Reijonen, Helen. (2011): Johdanto: Yksilöllinen ja yhteisöllinen inhimillinen pääoma organisaatiossa. In Puusa, Anu & Reijonen, Helen (eds.) Aineeton pääoma organisaation voima- varana. UNIpress. p.19-29
26 See also Ståhle, P. & Grönroos, M. (2002). Knowledge Manage- ment – tietopääoma yrityksen kilpailutekijänä. Porvoo: WS Book- well, Ståhle, P. & Wilenius, M. (2006). Luova tietopääoma. Tule- vaisuuden kestävä kilpailuetu. Helsinki: Edita Prima Oy and Puusa, A. & Eerikäinen, M. (2010). Is Tacit Knowledge Really Tacit? Elec- tronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 8 (3), p.307–318.
27 Puusa, Anu, Mönkkönen, Kaarina & Kuittinen, Matti. (2011): Onko kaikki todella vain johtamisesta kiinni? Alais- ja työyhteisötaitojen kasvava merkitys muuttuvassa työelämässä. In Puusa, Anu & Rei- jonen, Helen (eds.) Aineeton pääoma organisaation voimavara- na. UNIpress. p.94-116
In addition to external sources, this material is also based on articles that I have written before in Puusa, Anu & Reijonen, Helen (2011): Aineeton pääoman organisaation voimavarana, UNIPress, Puusa, Anu, Reijonen, Helen, Juuri, Pauli & Laukka- nen, Tommi. (2014): Akatemiasta markkinapaikalle. Johtami- nen ja markkinointi aikansa kuvina (4th revised edition). Talen- tum, and on the text Aineeton pääoma ei ole uskon asia in the blog Kaikuluotain on the website Johtamisverkosto.
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