Why test: To Measure Intellectual Capital

Perhaps a few quotes from the preface of Intellectual Capital by Thomas Stewart say it best:

“ Generally accepted accounting principles generally do an unacceptable job of accounting for the principal activities of knowledge-intensive businesses.”

“ We … need to know how to value intellectual assets, which is to say we need to know how to price a wealth of knowledge.”

“ Intellectual capital is intellectual material …that can be put to use to create wealth.”

Note in this last that intellectual capital isn’t measured by knowledge able to be articulated by the holder; instead it is knowledge that can be put to use, that can be applied to the problems of creating utility for people. Only when it can be applied does it become capital.

Multiple-Choice testing measures knowledge inside people’s heads. Performance testing measures knowledge that can be applied.

Why Performance Test?

To Predict How People Will Perform
To Measure the Need for Training
To Assess the Effectiveness of Training