Corporate Longitude What You Need to Know to Navigate the Knowledge Economy

"Edvinsson is the person who has done the most to uncover the hidden values of intellectual capital." Fortune Magazine "The human brain is the most powerful weapon on planet earth. Corporate Longitude gives everyone new access to how to maximize this power. Forget Technicolor, grey matter matters. " Kjell A Nordström and Jonas Ridderstrale, authors of Funky Business It is wise to have some idea of where you are going. In the knowledge economy it's equally important to be prepared to change direction at a moment's notice. In business, we too often know all about our latest financial position without having any idea of our real or potential position. Do you know where you're going in the knowledge economomy? Where do we register the resignation of a key person? Where do we register the loss of a key customer? or the success of a key project? The measures by which we all manage only give us half an understanding of where we are or where we're going. In 1675, King Charles II of England set up the Royal Observatory, tasked with finding a method of accurately determining longitude at sea. A similar challenge currently faces the business world. Modern corporations habitually calibrate along a single measure: a financial one. This is corporate latitude. The trouble is that it only gives part of the picture, only half of the co-ordinates required to know their precise location and to map out the route to their destination. Without a practicable method for measuring corporate longitude - a measurement for intellectual capital - companies are unable to locate their true position or chart a meaningful course. Intellectual capital is a combination of human capital - the brains, skills, insights and potential of those in an organisation - and structured capital - wrapped up in customers, processes, databases, brands and systems. It is the only meaningful way to gauge the potential energy of a company. Corporate Longitude provides a way to measure these intangibles as well as the financial facts, and to navigate accurately through the turbulent waters of business. With the rise of the knowldge economy, the search for corporate longitude is on. The the founding guru of intellectual capital knows where to find it, and here provdes a compass for the entrepreneurial knowledge leader. Find out how intelligent enterprising will set apart the new navigators of knowldge markets. "Our journey in Corporate Longitude has a number of important markers. The first is that I believe there is a new commercial reality -- knowledge economics -- which transforms the concept of value and of value creation. Intangibles, such as intelligence, brands, trust and networks, are the driving force of knowledge economics. The rise of knowledge economics highlights a mismatch between current financial reporting systems and intellectual assets - these I see as akin to corporate latitude and corporate longitude. One without the other gets us nowhere." Leif Edvinsson