'Intellectual Capital' and Struggles over the Perceived Value of Members' Expert Knowledge in a Knowledge-intensive Organization

This case study analyzes the ways in which members struggled over the perceived value of their expert knowledge, or 'intellectual capital,' in the uncertain, ambiguous, and changing environment of a knowledge-intensive organization. Using Bourdieu's notion of symbolic capital, this qualitative study analyzes the specific communicative processes by which some individuals' and groups' expert knowledge came to be considered more valuable than that of others. The study shows that employees and executives routinely shaped the perceived value of their expert knowledge in self-serving ways and often did so at the organization's expense.