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However, when describing how organizations create and leverage competitive advantage, we note that it depends upon what the firm has, but no less important is what the firm does with what it has. In strategy management, two relevant perspectives still coexist in understanding how firms deploy scarce resources to create superior value. These two perspectives are activity-based view and the resource-based view. The two are complementary. The activity-based view focuses on what the firm does, whereas the resource-based view focuses on what the firm has. These two perspectives constitute the foundations of the ICBS methodologies.

The extended SWOT analysis gives us the main factors to consider when seeking strategies that lead to entrepreneurial excellence. The main factors of the extended SWOT analysis also determine the information system required to measure and manage those factors. In other words, the main factors produce the Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System (ICBS) that we have defined as a knowledge-based strategic management information system framework.

The challenge is to move SWOT analysis away from generalities of “strengths”, “weaknesses”, opportunities”, and “threats” to more concrete factors and characteristics appropriate to the new realities. To accomplish unpredictable characteristics emerged from an economy based on a fluid resource as knowledge it is proposed the extended SWOT analysis which constitutes the basis for developing the ICBS framework. The Extended SWOT analysis helps us to identify the strategic knowledge.

Value Chain Analysis

ICBS considers the business process value chain broken down into:

ü Innovation value chain

ü Operations value chain

The "innovation value chain" considers the process of developing new products and services (and the new processes for providing them) that subsequently feed the operations process. Many companies and organisations now base their competitiveness on their innovation capabilities. In doing so, they are effectively basing their competitiveness on what might be termed their "innovation intellectual capital".

The “operations value chain” considers the process of operations producing "ordinary" products and services through a systematic and repetitive operations value chain which also requires core competencies and core capabilities to be competitive. However, these competencies and capabilities are usually of a different nature from those of the innovation process. The core competencies and core capabilities of operations can also be termed "operations intellectual capital".

Thus, the ICBS considers the business process value chain broken down into its two constituent parts. The general model of ICBS considers the innovation process value chain and the operations process value chain, providing specific methodologies and information systems for each of the constituent parts

Business process broken down into its two constituent value chains: The innovation value chain and the operations value chain

Thus, considering the particularities of each business process, the ICBS methodologies and frameworks can be divided into two partial models. The OICBS refers to operations core activities and core knowledge and the IICBS refers to innovation core activities and knowledge.

OICBS: Operations Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System

The OICBS is an operation intellectual capital strategic management methodology.

The OICBS methodology draws inspiration from the idea of the company as a tree in which the visible parts of the tree (the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and the fruits) correspond to the tangible assets of the company and the invisible part of the tree (the roots of the tree below ground) corresponds to the intangible assets of the company.

The OICBS flowcharts show that, within each company tree (or business unit), separate analyses can be made, in succession, of the leaves and fruits (the products and services), the branches (the processes), and the roots (the core competencies and professional core competencies). For this purpose, ad hoc personalised questionnaires are used.

In addition, the overall soil fertility (the operations infrastructure) can be analysed. Continuing with the idea of a company as a tree, each company business unit can be considered to be a specific tree, and the whole company has as many trees as it has business units. Each of these trees is fed with the knowledge of its roots. Furthermore, a company has at its disposal a common intangible operations infrastructure that is shared by all its business units. This infrastructure corresponds to the fertile soil in which all the company trees are planted. This fertile soil nourishes the roots (core knowledge) of each individual company tree.

Company Operations Infrastructure

This methodology makes it possible to compare each specific tree (business unit) with the corresponding tree of the best of the competition, thus facilitating the benchmarking of leaves and fruits (products and services), branches (processes), roots (core competencies and professional core competencies), and soil fertility (operations infrastructure).The benchmarking gap gives the necessary information for taking appropriate corrective action and for learning from past errors.

Continuing with the idea of the new tree, each innovation project can be considered to be a specific tree, and the whole company has as many trees as it has innovation projects. Each of these trees is fed with the knowledge of its roots. Furthermore a company has at its disposal a common intangible innovation infrastructure that is shared by all the innovation projects. This infrastructure corresponds to the fertile soil in which all the company innovation trees are planted. This fertile soil nourishes the roots (core knowledge) of each innovation company tree.

This methodology makes it possible to compare each specific tree (innovation project) with the corresponding tree of the best of the competition, thus facilitating the benchmarking of leaves and fruits (new products and services), branches (new processes), roots (new core competencies and new professional core competencies), and soil fertility (innovation infrastructure). The benchmarking process in IICBS is shown below.

Confronted with increasing global competition, organizations can no longer survive on their own innovation efforts. To pursue innovation in a global competitive environment organizations do not have to rely on internal competencies alone. Innovation activities are increasingly international and companies can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas. IICBS identifies, audits, and benchmarks the core capabilities or key intellectual capital that the company needs to develop and to reach its future goals and successfully compete with “best in class” competitors.