Teresa Carla Oliveira
Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra – FEUC
Stuart Holland
Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra – FEUC
Abstract. The concept of human capital is associated mainly with the Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and, in his usage, has a clear conceptual basis as investment in the costs of formal education. By contrast, this paper suggests that ‘intellectual capital’ is a re-branding of knowledge, skills and experience rather than re-conceptualisation of resource based learning. Becker also chose not to include informal knowledge, skills or experience within his concept of human capital, which remains limited by its constrained premises. This paper submits that both human capital and intellectual capital advocates fail to identify or measure the tacit knowledge and implicit learning which increasingly is recognised as a key to the competitive advantage of organisations. It first focuses on the conceptual basis of claims made for human capital and intellectual capital, outlines limits in their methodology, and contrasts these with insights from theories of tacit knowledge and implicit learning and the central role within them of informal or non-formal skill acquisition. It develops and illustrates instances of interfacing tacit and explicit knowledge before introducing a methodology for profiling the acquisition of knowledge, ability and skills. It does so by introducing the concepts of non-formal learning-from-work (LfW) and informal learning-from-life (LfL), with evidence from a four country EU case study commissioned within the lifelong learning remit of the Lisbon Agenda.
Key words: Human capital, intellectual capital, tacit knowledge, implicit skills, latent abilities, learning-from-life, learning-from-work.
]]> Resumo. O conceito de capital humano está associado, de uma forma particular, ao Nobel atribuído a Laureate Gary Becker e ao seu uso como base conceptual para explicar os custos de investimento em educação formal. Este artigo, sugere que ‘capital intelectual’ é uma re-designação de conhecimento, competências e experiência mais do que uma re-conceptualização da aprendizagem baseada nos recursos. Mais ainda, Becker optou por não incluir conhecimento, competências e experiências informais no seu conceito de capital humano, o que reflecte constrangimentos nas suas premisas. Este artigo, ao argumentar que quer o conceito de capital humano quer o de capital intelectual não identificam e avaliam conhecimento tácito e aprendizagem implícita, evidencia o crescente reconhecimento deste tipo de conhecimento e aprendizagem como chave para a vantagem competitiva das organizações. Ao analisar o que está subjacente aos conceitos de capital intelectual e humano, identificam-se os seus limites metodológicos e apresenta-se o contributo das teorias do conhecimento tácito e aprendizagem implícita para melhor compreender a aquisição de competências informais e não formais. O artigo ainda desenvolve e exemplifica a interface entre conhecimento tácito e explícito, em particular no que se refere aos conceitos de aprendizagem não-formal no trabalho e informal da vida, com referência a um estudo realizado na perspectiva de abordagem ao longo da vida e que envolveu quatro países europeus.
Palavras-chave: Capital humano, capital intelectual, conhecimento tácito, competências implícitas e capacidades latentes, aprendizagem da vida, aprendizagem no trabalho.
Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.
Full text only available in PDF format.
References
Anderson, N., & Shackleton, V. (1993). Successful selection interviewing. Oxford: Blackwell. [ Links ]
Akbar, H. (2003). Knowledge levels and their transformation: Towards the integration of knowledge creation and individual learning. Journal of Management Studies, 40 (8), 1997-2022.
Ambrosini, V., & Bowman, C. (2001). Tacit knowledge: Some suggestions for operationalization. Journal of Management Studies, 38 (6), 811-829.
]]> Archibugi, D., & Pianta, M. (1996). Measuring technological innovation through patents and innovation surveys. Technovation, 16 (9), 451-468.Archibugi, D., & Iammarino, S. (2002). The globalization of technological innovation: definition and evidence. Rome: National Scientific Research Council (CNRS).
Bartlett, F. C. (1995). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baumard, P. (1999). Tacit knowledge in organisations. London: Sage.
Becker, G. S. (1993). Human capital (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Becker, G. (2006). Lunch with the FT. The Financial Times, June 17th-18th.
Berry, D. C. (Ed.) (1997). How Implicit is Implicit Learning? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cleeremans, A. (1997). ‘Principles for implicit learning’. In D. C. Berry (Ed.), How Implicit is Implicit learning? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Colenso, M. (2000). Kaizen strategies for organisational change: Evolution and revolution in the organisation. London: Financial Times-Prentice Hall.
Conway, N., & Briner, R. (2005). Understanding psychological contract at work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
]]> Cooley, M. (1987). Architect or bee? London: Hogarth.Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin’s dangerous idea. London: Allen Lane-Penguin Press.
Denison, E., & Poullier, J.-P. (1967). Why Growth Rates Differ. Washington: The Brookings Institution.
Dipboye, R. L. (1997). Structured selection interviews: Why do they work? Why are they underutilized? In N. Anderson & P. Herriot (Eds.), Handbook of Selection and Assessment. Chichester: John Wiley.
Edmonson, A. C., Winslow, A. B., Bohmer, R. M. J., & Pisano, G. P. (2003). Learning how and learning what: Effects of tacit and codified knowledge on performance improvement following technology adoption. Decision Sciences, 34 (2), 197-223.
Edvinsson, L. (2000). Some perspectives on intangible and intellectual capital 2000. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 1 (1), 12-16.
Edvinsson, L., & Sullivan, P. (1996). Developing a model for managing intellectual capital. European Management Journal, 14 (4), 356-364.
Edvinsson, L., & Malone, B. (1997). Intellectual capital: The proven way to establish your company’s real values by measuring its hidden brainpower. New York: Harper Business.
Feiwel, G. R. (1975). The Intellectual Capital of Michael Kalecki. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
Foss, N., & Knudsen, T. (2003). The resource-based tangle: towards a sustainable explanation of competitive advantage. Managerial and Decision Economics, 24, 291-308.
]]> Hasher, L., & Zacks, R. T. (1984). Automatic processing of fundamental information. American Psychologist, 48, 1372-1388.Leana, C. R., & van Buren, H. J. III. (1999). Organizational social capital and employment practices. Academy of Management Review, 24 (3), 538-555.
Manyika, J. (2006). The coming imperative for the world’s knowledge economy. The Financial Times, May 16th.
Matte Blanco, I. (1975). The unconscious as infinite sets. London: Duckworth.
Matte Blanco, I. (1988). Thinking, feeling and being. London: Routledge.
Mintzberg, H. (1975). The Manager’s Job. Harvard Business Review, July-August, 1975. Reprinted in Harvard Business Review on Leadership (1998, pp. 1-36). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Mintzberg, H. (2004). Managers, Not MBAs. London: Financial Times-Prentice Hall.
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital and organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242-266.
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organisational knowledge creation. Organisation Science, 5 (1), 14-37.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company. New York: Oxford University Press.
]]> Oliveira, T. C. T. (2000). Implicit logic in unstructured interviewing. Selection Development Review, 16 (1).Oliveira, T. C. T. (2001). Power in panel interviewing. Selection Development Review, 17 (3).
Oliveira, T. C. T. (2002). Procedural justice in panel interviewing. Selection Development Review, 18 (3).
Oliveira, T. C. T. (2004). An architecture and methodology for a european certificate of informal learning. Report to the Education and Cultural Affairs Directorate General of the Commission of the European Union (Socrates-Leonardo, 2002-0579/01-001 JAC).
Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Polanyi, M. (1962). Tacit knowing: Its bearing in some problems of philosophy. Review of Modern Physics, 34 (4), 601-616.
Polanyi, M. (1968). The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge.
Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.
Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Free Press.
Porter, M. E. (1998). On competition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
]]> Priem, R. L., & Butler, J. E. (2001). Is the resource based ‘view’ a useful perspective for strategic management research? Academy of Management Review, 26 (1), 22-40.Reber, A. S. (1976). Implicit learning of synthetic languages: the role of instructional sets. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 2, 88-94.
Reber, A. S. (1989). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 118, 219-235.
Reed, K. K., Lubattkin, M., & Srinvasan, N. (2006). Proposing and testing an intellectual capital based view of the firm. Journal of Management Studies, 43 (4), 867-894.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schön, D. A. (1991). The reflective turn. New York: Teachers College Press.
Spender, J. C. (1992). Limits to learning from the west. The International Executive, 34, 389-410.
St. John, M. F., & Shanks, D. R. (1993). Implicit learning from an information processing standpoint. In D. C. Berry (Ed.), How Implicit is Implicit Learning? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stewart, T. A. (1997). Intellectual capital: The new wealth of organizations. New York: Harvard Business School Press.
]]> Sullivan, P. H. (2000). Value driven intellectual capital: How to convert intangible corporate assets into market value. New York: Harvard Business School Press.Sveiby, K. E. (1998). Intellectual capital and knowledge management. www.sveiby.com.au/IntellectualCapital.html
Sveiby, K. E. (2001). A knowledge-based theory of the firm to guide in strategy formulation. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2 (4), 334-358.
Youndt, M. A., Subramaniam, M., & Snell, S. A. (2004). Intellectual capital profiles: An examination of investment and returns. Journal of Management Studies, 41 (2), 335-361.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell.
Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T., & Roos, D. (1990). The Machine That Changed The World. New York: Harper Collins.
Womack, J., & Jones, D. (1996). Lean Thinking. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T. (2005). Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Wealth Together. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Address: Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. E-mail: tcarla@fe.uc.pt
]]>