Chapter 4 - Intangible Operating Structures

Abstract

The quality of tangible transactions determines current business, repeat business, and referred business. Intangible transactions are responsible for creating financial transactions and future profitability. Because conventional management systems only measure financial transactions and specifically exclude the systematic capture of intangible transactions, conventional systems do not measure the source of value creation, only its manifestation. This chapter briefly discusses the three categories and 18 core resource types that organizations can manage in the knowledge-based economy (KBE), conventional management systems only manage one category and 6 core resources. Intangible management applies to all organizations as it concerns itself with the scientific management of all tangible and intangible resources at an organizational disposal. Organizations seek to manage two types of intangible resources: legal intangibles and competitive intangibles. Legal intangibles confer ownership in the represented value of the specific application of a competitive intangible to a specific issue. When an intangible falls outside the accounting definition of an intangible asset, it falls within the definition of a competitive intangible under international intangible standards.