Measuring the value of knowledge resources

The knowledge-based economy presents a need for knowledge value metrics that are reliable and acceptable to internal and external stakeholders. Researchers have responded with numerous methods which often promise more than they deliver, mainly because they fail to translate value into observable objective criteria. This paper proposes a taxonomy for identifying valuable human capital. Grounded in the intellectual capital literature, the taxonomy is based on tacit human capital, and three new constructs: tacit social capital (organizational memory), tacit structural capital (learning organization contribution), and tacit relational capital (knowledge tied to the individual rather than the position). The taxonomy combines a broad range of extant measurement constructs to develop a valuable human capital index. The index may be used to assess the organisation's overall 'health' in each of the four types of capital, and may also help identify why individuals create value for the organisation.