OpenCourseWare, or OCW, refers to course materials created by universities and shared freely with the world via the Internet. OCW began at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in October 2002. Many universities have followed suit, creating their own OCW programs. 
The OCW Consortium describes OCW projects as having these properties: · free and open digital publication of educational course materials; · available freely and at no-cost for widespread use and adaptation; · does not typically provide certification or access to instructors. OCW provides a tantalizing business, economic and cultural view into value network intangibles and relationships. It offers a highly instructive and compelling value network narrative. It embodies many of the great advantages of value networks and particularly network intangibles. The value network communities were early, instant evangelists of OCW and still are. Some immediately saw the wisdom of OCW. Other people, all sophisticated and accomplished, became puzzled. The idea of giving away courseware, the core intellectual property (IP), from a prestigious university like MIT, didn’t seem to make sense to them. Some got emotional, sometimes passionate, and others rejected OCW outright. Ambivalence and discomfort is common in value network transformations. It is emblematic of people's difficulty in casting off legacy thinking patterns. Letting-go is a required behavior. It is good to be aware of these reactions and to be equipped to address them for your value network projects. "We need to shift our thinking from command-and-control to coordinate-and-cultivate. When you coordinate, you organize work so that good things happen, whether you are in control or not. Coordination focuses on the activities that need to be accomplished and the relationships among them. To cultivate something successfully - whether it's your farm, your garden, your child, or your organization - you need to understand and respect the natural tendencies and shapes that create value."
- Thomas Malone,
Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management,
MIT Sloan School of Management For example, for most professional people their ultimate personal intangible is their college degree(s), represented by their diploma(s). It is only when these intangibles are applied through the correct role, the best flow-path, and the right value network, that they create enormous benefits. So, a MS in physics becomes very valuable as applied in the role of researcher, scientist, engineer or laboratory worker. It is of less value to a house painter or line cook. Thus, like OCW, the value network perspective reorients the organization to what really matters. Value networks and VNA focus attention and energy on roles and intangible exchanges. Perspective is shifted to whole system relationships and key intangibles inhabiting thriving business ecosystems. With OCW, universities enjoy major intangible benefits such as developing brand, improving reputation and creating goodwill. Advocates and users of OCW often mention other considerable benefits they discovered. These include greater transparency and collaboration. This, in turn, is achieving fundamental improvements in teaching methods - all intangibles! Thus, the focus on intangibles and relationships creates the virtuous value network. It delivers continuous, recursive benefits. Organizations pursing value network initiatives enjoy substantial benefits. Critical network intangibles trapped in traditional business models are readily deployed with value network analysis. Like OCW, value networks are major reset in thinking, an entirely new mental model. The focus on network intangibles and relationships makes value networks the next episode in enterprise logic, releasing explosive growth, prosperity and innovation. | 
