Intellectual Capital/Stewart 175-178

178 Information Age companies seeking to exploit information's economics need to understand that strategic armamentarium available to them. There are essentially three kinds--families--of weapons.

1) Using Friends--some of whom might be competitors--to create and sustain early advantages in market share.

We want ubiquity first, then profitability.

Alliances are especially powerful weapons in information-intensive businesses, because the low marginal cost of information--its near zero manufacturing cost--allows alliances to be assemble quickly, and lock-in makes them strong.

2) Cooperative Strategies and Defending Leadership Positions.

...provided the company uses its leverage to create customer capital, rather than simply squeezing its suppliers and distributors to increase its own profit margins.

3) Learning as a Competitive Weapon

In the printed form thought is more imperishable than ever: it is volatile, intangible, indestructible; it is in the air we breathe..