The development, management and protection of intellectual capital in small and medium third sector enterprises in Australia and the Pacific region

The aim of this VC grant application is to carry out a survey of attitudes and practices with respect to the legal frameworks for development, management and protection of intellectual capital (IC) among small and medium third sector enterprises in Australia and the Pacific region. The project will assess how legal arrangements and support structures are applied to further the development, management and protection of IC, and more specifically, intellectual property (IP) in third sector organisations, in the context of the exigencies of revenue generation and brand building. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of these legal structures and arrangements in achieving the objectives of these enterprises, and consider alternative solutions available in maximising their IC. It is anticipated that the results from this study will provide the basis for a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award or AusAID Development Research grant to further explore the range of legal structures implemented by social enterprise initiatives in Australia and developing countries in the Pacific region. In particular, it will consider franchising as a potential structure for third sector enterprise. Franchising has been successfully applied in commercial enterprise, and can be regarded as a practical solution to challenges in the third sector because it is designed to replicate and ‘scale up’ enterprise quickly and efficiently. It is also a contractual arrangement that has the potential to facilitate the maintenance of distinct advantages in for-profit and not-for-profit activities of third sector enterprise, and so ensure the maximum benefit from both.

The project will assess how legal arrangements and support structures are applied to further the development, management and protection of IC, and more specifically, intellectual property (IP) in third sector organisations, in the context of the exigencies of revenue generation and brand building. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of these legal structures and arrangements in achieving the objectives of these enterprises, and consider alternative solutions available in maximising their IC.