Title: What intangible resources do companies value, measure, and report? A synthesis of UK and Finnish research

Authors: Dina Gray, Goran Roos, Taru Rastas

Addresses: Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK. ' Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK. ' IC Partners Ltd, Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 21 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Abstract: There has been a movement in the accountancy field to induce companies to disclose the worth of their intangibles, and researchers argue that the demand for the external communication of intangibles and value drivers is increasing in capital markets. It is generally accepted that disclosure should reflect management|s understanding of strategy and the value creation processes of the company. However, understanding what intangible resources are perceived to create value and determining whether the pressure to disclose those value drivers is a key motivation for the measurement of intangible resources are the key objectives of this paper. This paper discusses empirical research that has been carried out in 95 companies in the UK and 16 companies in Finland to determine what intangible resources companies consider important in value creation, what intangible resources they actually measure, and what, if any, of those measures they actually disclose to their stakeholders.

Keywords: intellectual capital; value; measurement; disclosure; intangible assets; intangible resources; United Kingdom; UK; Finland.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLIC.2004.005704

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 2004 Vol.1 No.3, pp.242 - 261

Published online: 24 Nov 2004 *

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