Securing Intellectual Assets: Integrating the Knowledge and Innovation Dimensions

I have a new paper accepted for publication - Securing Intellectual Assets: Integrating the Knowledge and Innovation Dimensions. The paper will appear in a special issue on Management of Security Technology and Policy, International Journal of Technology Management

The concept of intellectual asset security has received widespread attention in recent times. Much of this attention can be attributed to the fact that knowledge assets can be used to secure competitive advantages for organizations. Moreover, one might assert that in today’s knowledge-based economies and markets, it is these assets that truly differentiate organizations and are the only true source of sustainable competitive advantages. In order to have a robust program for managing intellectual assets, an organization must account for its knowledge management and innovation processes. In this paper, drawing on (1) a semiotic-based model for knowledge management (Desouza, 2006), and (2) an organizational process of innovation (Desouza et al., 2006), I describe an integrated process framework for the management of intellectual assets. The framework is then used to describe salient security management challenges faced when managing intellectual assets. Executives involved in security management programs in 23 organizations were interviewed to elicit key security management challenges faced by organizations when addressing intellectual assets.