Some strategic quizzics

By Professor Leif Edvinsson, Lund University, Sweden

If you look at the new economical power triangle, with North America, Europe and Asia in each corner, some strategic intellectual capital and knowledge issues might arise.

Fifty per cent of the human capital of the world resides in this triangle, but with the majority in Asia. The largest and most profitable innovative car producing company of the world is Japanese manufacturer Toyota. What percentage of the talent base is left for Europe? What about future value adding in the EU based on knowledge investment? In the US, approximately 33 per cent of post doc researchers are from Asia.

In the context of the so called Lisbon agenda, the key question might be: Where do we find the critical intelligence for value creation and how do we in-source the talents from Asia? Is there time for a new East Indian Trade Company based on knowledge and thoughtware?

The above quizzics are based on the learnings that the art and science of questioning might help us to augment strategic innovation perspectives much more than traditional cost saving ones. The latter is mainly resulting in the search for outsourcing to low labour cost supplying countries. Is that sustainable economics?

So for the Future Knowledge Navigation the key word might be to in-source talented human capital. For this we need to develop the infrastructure for migration and flow of people as well as the relationship capital, perhaps expressed as tolerance of talents from other cultures.

The infrastructure might take the shape of Knowledge Innovative Zones rather than traditional cities. However, the city once was developed to support the trade flow of goods. Now it might be the trade flow of ideas and intellectual assets. Urban design becomes critical to attract and support the brains to come, work and live in such areas.

Such regions might act as a kind of mega brain of networks and relationships like the synapses of the brain. One critical dimension for this mega brain might be the harmony and relationships between different supporting regions. Strategic collaboration instead of stressful resource competition might be the outcome.

The recent emerging way of addressing future challenges in Japan is called Chi. This innovative Chi management involves a thought leadership integrating and optimising sharing knowledge, enabling wisdom and conscious mind in harmony with the context, also referred to as Ba.

A special form of such collaborative opportunity space might be on the border line between public and private sector, with prototyping society entrepreneurship. Trade development has always taken place in such corridors or twilight zones. Now it might be the prototyping space for new social innovations and improved wealth creation to nourish the future as an asset.