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Capital, Systems, and Objects

The Foundation and Future of Organizations from a South Asian Perspective

  • Provides valuable insights on how to be an effective capital creator – the world’s number one game - through more than 40 case studies from South East Asia
  • Lays out a well-defined and shared understanding of an organization’s capital creation system which is a necessary first step to strategic planning and digital transformation
  • Explains the five fundamental systems for creating and maintaining six type of capital and how these should be the focus of any digital transformation effort

Part of the book series: Management for Professionals (MANAGPROF)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvii
  2. Capital Creation Systems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. A Capital Idea

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 3-21
    3. The Organization as a Capital Creation System

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 23-33
    4. The Growth of the Capital Creation System

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 35-49
    5. Systems for Creating Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 51-71
    6. Energy for Capital Creation

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 73-86
    7. Objects

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 87-103
    8. The Future

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 105-113
  3. Capital Creation Mechanisms

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-117
    2. Economic Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 119-138
    3. Human Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 139-155
    4. Organizational Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 157-170
    5. Natural Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 171-182
    6. Social Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 183-195
    7. Symbolic Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 197-209
  4. Capital and Systems Measurement

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 211-211
    2. The Measurement of Capital

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 213-231
    3. The Measurement of Systems

      • Richard Thomas Watson, Saji K. Mathew
      Pages 233-242
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 243-248

About this book

This book provides a set of integrated frameworks—capital, systems, and objects—that transcend managerial or technology hype by focusing on the long-term fundamentals that sustain organizational success, and it contains cases from South East Asia to elaborate this concept. Many organizations are currently addressing two important transformational issues: ecological sustainability and digitization. Sustainability is a goal, an end, and digitization is a process, a means to achieve a goal. This book introduces a flexible model that can be applied to current and future organizational challenges, including sustainability and digitization, because the fundamentals are constant.

This book is designed to serve two purposes for the readers: first, to present three conceptual foundations for designing and operating organizations (capital, systems, and objects (section 1)); and second, to provide a reference source for implementing these ideas in your organization (sections 2 and3). The first section of the book, chapters 1 through 7, sets forth the conceptual foundations. The chapters mix concepts and practical examples to give a new way of thinking about the setting in which one may work many days each year. The second section provides details and associated examples of every one of the thirty-six forms of capital conversion. It also illustrates how the five foundational systems support capital conversion in a variety of ways. Finally, the third section is about measuring capital and systems.

The book covers measurement of all types of capital and systems performance and has been written for current and future organizational leaders to change the game and play it more effectively. The book will thus resonate with students of organizational behaviour and leadership strategy, organizational leaders, industry experts, and general readers.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of MIS, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

    Richard Thomas Watson

  • Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

    Saji K. Mathew

About the authors

Richard Watson is a Regents Professor and the J. Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. In 2011, he received the Association for Information Systems' LEO award for exceptional lifetime achievement in Information Systems. The University of Liechtenstein has established with government support a Consortium for Digital Capital Creation based on the ideas in this book.

Saji K. Mathew is currently a Professor at the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras. As a Fulbright Senior Scholar, he did his post-doctoral research on risk mitigation in offshore IT outsourcing at Emory University, Atlanta. He continues to work with corporations and academia on digital business strategy.  He is one of the founding members of the Association for Information Systems, India chapter.

















Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access