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Increasing Intellectual Bandwidth: Generating Value from Intellectual Capital with Information Technology

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Abstract

An organization's Intellectual Bandwidth (IB) is its capacity to transform External Domain Knowledge (EDK) into Intellectual Capital (IC), and to convert IC into Applied Knowledge (AK), from which a task team can create value. An organization's IB is an upper boundary on its ability to solve complex problems. To create value, members of an organization must search for knowledge, share it, and, bring it to bear on the issue at hand. The Intellectual Bandwidth of an organization must therefore be, to a certain extent, a function of the ability of its members to access data, information, and knowledge that is relevant in the context of the task at hand in order to understand the causes and consequences of their problem. They must reason about possible solutions and their potential consequences. Throughout the task they must communicate with other stakeholders and subject matter experts as they make a joint effort toward their goal. This paper develops a model of IB based on these and other concepts. It posits that IB is the product of a Hierarchy of Understanding and a Hierarchy of Collaboration. The paper suggests that the model may be useful for analyzing and deploying IT in ways that reduce the cognitive load of bringing EDK and IC to bear on the task at hand. Future research must focus on refining and validating constructs and developing measures of IB, and using those measures to find ways to increase the value derived from EDK and IC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MIS Department, University of Arizona, AZ, USA

    Jay F. Nunamaker Jr.

  2. Department of Management and Information Systems, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Nicholas C. Romano Jr.

  3. Center for the Management of Information, University of Arizona and GroupSystems.com, AZ, USA

    Robert Owen Briggs

Authors
  1. Jay F. Nunamaker Jr.
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  2. Nicholas C. Romano Jr.
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  3. Robert Owen Briggs
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Nunamaker, J.F., Romano, N.C. & Briggs, R.O. Increasing Intellectual Bandwidth: Generating Value from Intellectual Capital with Information Technology. Group Decision and Negotiation 11, 69–86 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015201126568

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