Visionary in scope, Intellectual Capital is the first book that shows how to turn the untapped knowledge of an organization into its greatest competitive weapon.  Thomas A. Stewart demonstrates how knowledge--not natural resources, machinery, or financial capital--has become the most important factor in economic life.  Through practical advice, stories, and case histories, Stewart reveals how organizations and individuals can create and use the knowledge assets they need.  Dazzling in its ability to make conceptual sense of the economic revolution we are living through, this ingenious book cuts through the vague rhetoric of "paradigm shifts" to show how the Information Age economy really works. Intellectual Capital should be read as if the futures of your company and your career depend on it.  They do. A leader in establishing KM's language and terminology, Stewart offers perhaps one of the best expressions of the concept of "intellectual capital," which he defines as "organized knowledge that can be used to produce wealth." The clarity and practical focus of his writing make this work essential reading. (LJ 4/15/97) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. "Be prepared to rethink your business, your career, your company's balance sheet, your organizational strategy and even the rules of the marketplace--breathtakingly written." -- Atlanta Business Chronicle "If you read only one business book this year, make it Intellectual Capital ." --Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future "An enormously important book on a truly critical topic.  Insightful, pragmatic, fun to read.  Tom Stewart has hit a home run." --Dr. Michael Hammer "Original, refreshing--the management book of the '90s." --Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, USC " Intellectual Capital will be the watershed work on this important topic." --Noel Tichy, coauthor of Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will Visionary in scope, Intellectual Capital is the first book that shows how to turn the untapped knowledge of an organization into its greatest competitive weapon. Thomas A. Stewart demonstrates how knowledge--not natural resources, machinery, or financial capital--has become the most important factor in economic life. Through practical advice, stories, and case histories, Stewart reveals how organizations and individuals can create and use the knowledge assets they need. Dazzling in its ability to make conceptual sense of the economic revolution we are living through, this ingenious book cuts through the vague rhetoric of "paradigm shifts" to show how the Information Age economy really works. Intellectual Capital should be read as if the futures of your company and your career depend on it. They do. "Be prepared to rethink your business, your career, your company's balance sheet, your organizational strategy and even the rules of the marketplace--breathtakingly written." -- Atlanta Business Chronicle "If you read only one business book this year, make it Intellectual Capital ." --Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future "An enormously important book on a truly critical topic. Insightful, pragmatic, fun to read. Tom Stewart has hit a home run." --Dr. Michael Hammer "Original, refreshing--the management book of the '90s." --Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, USC " Intellectual Capital will be the watershed work on this important topic." --Noel Tichy, coauthor of Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will Thomas A. Stewart is an award-winning member of the board of editors of Fortune magazine.  He pioneered the field of intellectual capital in a series of landmark articles that earned him an international reputation as the chief expert on the subject.  The Planning Forum called him "the leading proponent of knowledge management in the business press," and Business Intelligence, a British research group, gave him a special award for his outstanding contributions to the field.  He lives in Manhattan. Preface to the Paperback Edition In October 1994, I spoke about intellectual capital at the first of what has become a series of conferences called "The Knowledge Advantage," sponsored by the Strategic Leadership Forum and Ernst & Young.  During a question period following my talk, someone asked, "Do you think this stuff will become a fad like reengineering?" "I don't think so," I confidently answered.  "There's nothing to sell." The management of intellectual capital--organized knowledge that can be used to produce wealth--didn't seem to lend itself to being packaged and sold.  So long as no one had a commercial reason to push the idea, I figured it would not be pushed too far. So much for my crystal ball.  The response to the publication of Intellectual Capital --more accurately, the response to the ideas it discusses--has been far greater than I could have imagined.  As the year's crop of annual reports showed up in my mailbox in the spring of 1998,