Title: The predictive potential of intellectual capital
Authors: Annie Brooking, Peter Board, Sue Jones
Addresses: The Technology Broker, Digital Park, Station Road, Longstanton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 5DS, UK. The Technology Broker, Digital Park, Station Road, Longstanton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 5DS, UK. The Technology Broker, Digital Park, Station Road, Longstanton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 5DS, UK
Abstract: Intellectual capital comprises intangible assets to include market, intellectual property, infrastructure and human centred assets. In some organisations, notably service organisations and those dependent upon information technology, intangible assets now outweigh tangibles in their importance to the organisation. Indeed, possession of tangible assets such as machinery, buildings and cash is only leveraged according to the nature and quality of intellectual capital in the organisation. This paper demonstrates how a method for documenting, identifying, measuring and managing intellectual capital has been used to audit a company|s ability to achieve its goals. It demonstrates how the intellectual capital audit method is prescriptive in assessing an organisation|s ability to achieve its goals. This paper presents a detailed methodology for auditing intellectual capital and two case studies where the method has been used to validate the organisation|s ability to achieve its goals. The case studies demonstrate the complex relationship between intangible assets and provides the audience with insight into how re-engineering can be abused. The notion of corporate strategy as an anachronism is discussed and suitably dismissed. The paper concludes with a commentary on how an understanding of intellectual capital assists the corporate decision making process with issues such as understanding the role of R&D in the organisation, and the appropriateness of learning schemes. Finally it hints at the nature of corporate memory and how it will be used in the next millennium.
Keywords: intellectual capital; assets; marketing; intellectual property; infrastructure; human-centred; goals; target; audit; Brooking; Technology Broker.
International Journal of Technology Management, 1998 Vol.16 No.1/2/3, pp.115-125
Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *
Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article