Dow's journey to a knowledge value management culture

Abstract

Intellectual Capital/Knowledge Management is not the next silver bullet or fad that we should rally around. We need to ask is knowledge management important for the sake of 'what does it have to produce?' It is the creation of value for customers, share holders and employees. The Dow Chemical Company has spent the last four years developing a vision, functional systems, and tools, for the 'value management' of its Intellectual Assets (IA). During this effort, it has developed some competencies in the area of 'measuring and valuing' IA, and in developing systems that support the leveraging of IA for maximum value. In this article, Dow shares its experiences gained and reveals some of the lessons learned from this highly successful endeavor. The article also gives a glimpse of Dow's future direction in the area of Intellectual Capital Management.