Strategy 2

Any dog that can teach others how to innovate, design, make great products, deliver services, follow business processes, and develop a strong organisation culture, builds a formidable pack that can attack even large species of prey. A system enables things to work in a repeatable way. Structural capital is more than the knowledge and habits in the minds of the pack members. It includes any tool, process or information that helps a firm keep and grow its knowledge, and use it to achieve its goals.

Big dogs create systems that make it possible for their company to handle larger volumes of business in a structured way, and be less vulnerable to loss of staff and customers. By sharing learning and experience, and recording this knowledge, managers and staff together create a support system of formulas, routines, information systems, databases, policies, competitive intelligence, and processes. The knowledge gained from the products and the systems the firm has created over time, makes up its structural capital, the organised knowledge stays behind when employees go home for the night. Structural capital is stored in documents, media, processes, systems, databases, brands, patents, trade-marks and trade secrets. Some structural capitals patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets - enjoy legal protection. Structural capital is owned by an organization, remains with an organization when people leave, and includes the value of licences, agencies and other rights.