Strategic Options for Managing Intellectual Asset Flows in the Information Sector

Information and knowledge management play an increasingly important role in the development of sustainable competitive advantage. This study examines the challenges posed by advances in communication and information technology to the value appropriation strategies of information firms. We conceptualize information products as flows of intellectual assets and argue that the scarcity, and hence the value, of information products can be maximized by intervening in these intellectual asset flows. We discuss different intervention modes, identify important contingency considerations, and offer a number of formal propositions regarding the management of information products.