Competing in both high and low-cost operating environments can present a number of unique challenges. In light of global competition and the changing scope of various industries due to technological advancement, these challenges must be addressed in order to ensure business success. Global Perspectives on Achieving Success in High and Low Cost Operating Environments features a collection of research and case studies addressing contemporary issues surrounding operational success in various regions. Business professionals, managers, academics, and upper-level students will find this publication an essential resource for the latest tools and solutions for managing operations in diverse operating environments.

Successful companies rely on traditional factors of production for their survival. Yet the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantage-knowledge, customer relations, supply-on-demand, micromanagement, and other forms of "intellectual capital"-often don't even appear on many companies' reporting systems. The results of this lack of attention to intellectual capital can be disastrous for companies and their stockholders.

Providing an organizational system that helps managers maximize the flow of intellectual capital in their companies, Intellectual Capital presents the insights gained by leading experts from the practice, research, and consulting side of business management. Starting with a definition of intellectual capital and it main components, the book offers a step-by-step "process model" to rooting out corporate inefficiency at all levels. Illustrated with vivid case studies, the book also covers the latest thinking and practices of the "second generation" of intellectual capital practices, from consolidating intellectual capital measures into a single "IC Index" to linking them with shareholder value creation systems.