The three pillars of intellectual property are structural capital, human capital and relational capital. Structural CapitalStructural capital has been defined as the supporting infrastructure, processes and databases of an organization that enable human capital to function. It is generally subdivided into organizational, process and innovation capital. In any educational institution, organizational capital, which is the philosophy of the organization, guides the functions of all staff in the institution. For example, the philosophy of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is to eliminate all factors hindering the access of Nigerian citizens to education. Accessibility to education motivates the establishment of special study centers for the Nigerian army, navy, air force and prisons. Apart from this, it also dictates the overall plan and actions of the university. Process capital includes the techniques, procedures and programs that implement and improve the delivery of goods and services. For each educational institution, their service is the delivery of educational programs. In NOUN, process capital would include the entire process by which the course material along with continuous assessment and examinations are provided to the students and the result is given to the students. Innovative capital would include all course materials authored by staff and other experts outside the institution, which are covered by copyright laws. Additionally, since NOUN has an investment company that produces bottled water, the brand of water registered with regulatory authorities would also be classified here. In summary, structural capital allows the smooth running of the vision and implementation...... middle of paper ...... more specifically, those who have not yet obtained their doctorate should be sponsored by the 'University. Being an open university, NOUN is more dependent on the IT platform. Therefore, to develop the knowledge base of one's IT staff, one should send them for training from time to time. Other staff members should also be developed by being sponsored to conferences related to their job specifications. Another way to make knowledge more intensive within NOUN is to enable a staff exchange program between NOUN and other open universities around the world that are standard and reputed. ReferencesAdler, PS and Kwon, SW. (2002). “Social capital: perspectives for a new concept. » The Academy of Management Review, 27. Dekker, P. and Uslaner, EM (2001). "Introduction". Social capital and participation in daily life. Edited by EM Uslaner. London: Routledge.