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Setting Objectives - Taking ICM to the Operational Level

The IC model provides very general guidelines regarding the objectives that management should aim for in managing IC, namely, the cyclic conversion of human to customer and then to struc­tural capital. At best, this presents an end goal, that which should be achieved after an ICM pro­gram has been in place. But "how" is the challenge, which management is not given any strategy to confront. What is needed first of all is a framework that presents a skeleton of the changes that are required - a framework that can be used by management to formulate the strategies needed to tackle the challenge of "how," and to operationalize such strategies.

The CICM's framework leads organizational change by starting from the top at the strategic level, where leadership gets itself and the whole organization in the right mindset for managing IC. This is facilitated mainly by the reformulation of IC strategies that inspire and lead the CICM model. Strategy is the mastermind of organizational change. Without it, organizational change does not go beyond an inspirational leadership speech, the momentum of which withers away shortly after the applause. The CICM guides leadership and senior management on the various IC strategies that can be used at each stage of CICM to effect the necessary changes and lead the organization.

The CICM then moves on by outlining the structural and cultural changes that should be effected, as well as the enabling systems and tools that should be provided, to take ICM to the operational level. Structural changes relate to the departments, teams, and support positions that are needed to effect changes at each of the stages.

When it comes to culture, the CICM outlines changes that are needed to create the right cul­ture and the appropriate work environment at each stage. Though changing the organizational culture is something that relates to the whole organization and is not a change that is peculiar to one stage, there are steps that should be taken at each stage to engrain the right values in the way of doing business. For example, an innovation management program that does not allow time for employees to experiment with their ideas and make that part of their job will not promote cultural change no matter how many vision and mission statements are written about the impor­tance of employee innovation. Culture being engrained in an organization's routines and prac­tices can be changed only by consistent practices aimed at fostering the desired behavior. Hence, each of the stages includes the practices and steps required to change culture in a way that provides the optimal environment for the success of management objectives under the par­ticular stage.

Finally, the CICM framework provides guidance as to the systems and tools that are required to enable the main processes under each of the stages. The most important of the systems is the knowledge base and the IT architecture discussed under the knowledge management stage. That is not to undermine the significance of valuation tools for IP management or idea banks for innovation management, for example.

Presented in this framework, management is provided guidance as to what exactly needs to be done to create, extract, and maximize value at both the strategic and operational levels. It also enables management to spot weaknesses in their ICM program as lacking structural changes for example the program will not be effective, or lacking the right culture it will simply not work. One of the most pragmatic applications of the CICM framework is that despite its comprehen­siveness, it presents the required changes under each stage separately. This provides management with the flexibility to design a phased-out (short- to long-term) implementation plan. The only condition is that management knows where a certain program or practice fits in the big picture, and how it affects the other parts, and hence to align it with the business strategy.

Part Two presents each of the three stages separately by first introducing each of the underly­ing disciplines (knowledge, innovation, and IP management), exploring how they were trans­formed by the IC concept, then outlining the changes that should occur at the strategic and operational levels under each stage. Part Two includes three case studies, the Navy model of knowledge management, and the CICM models of two pioneers - Skandia and Dow Chemical. This would then introduce the reader to Part Three, where the implementation of the CICM model is outlined step by step.

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