The Learning journey of IC missionaries: intuition, control and value creation

The utilization of intellectual capital (IC) has often not been taken up as much as the proponents of IC may have wished. As Dumay (2012) outlines, there are barriers to implementing IC in organizations, and as academics and practitioners we need to overcome these barriers. We propose one way to do this is by providing reflective narratives of the journey the authors have taken as a successful IC practitioner and a successful IC academic. Based on constructivist learning theory (Chiucchi, 2013a) we offer a staged model of IC development (Guthrie et al., 2012) outlining how we went through similar stages in personally understanding and deploying IC. To do this, Mary Adams and John Dumay trace their IC learning journey in three stages of intuition, control and value creation. This paper contributes to the IC literature by providing an understanding of the growth a person may need to take in order to become an IC Missionary, rather than merely an IC preacher (Dumay, 2013, p. 8). If this can be achieved, we can provide a forum for open conversations about the concept of IC and the tools available so we can empower people and organizations to experience and collaborate to develop their own IC.