Intangibles and intellectual capital: an introduction to a special issue

Abstract

The authors believe that intangibles are the major drivers of company growth. In an economy where innovation, information and communication technologies, networks and alliances, as well as the quality of human resources and the way in which they are organized, intangibles will continue to be vital to companies, and the challenge of how to manage, measure and visualize them has to be addressed in theoretical and practical terms. As is well known, intangible assets have a value in use and in some cases also a value in exchange. Beyond their potential informativeness for external stakeholders, intellectual capital (IC) statements seem to have a fundamental function of self-analysis for the firm, forcing it to recognize both its implicit assets and the different links between the various types of capital. The relationship between IC statements and other forms of company reporting, such as social, ethical and environmental reports, should also be explored in depth, to avoid a proliferation of statements which increases the reporting burden on companies and decision-makers.