Small and medium size enterprises and the knowledge economy

Abstract

Purpose – The growth of the so‐called “knowledge economy”, whereby the primary sources of firm value are claimed to be an increasing reliance upon the exploitation and management of intangible assets that are not reported in company balance sheets, has led to a questioning of the continued relevance of conventional financial reporting and internal management information and control systems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the criticisms and proposed alternatives to conventional financial reporting and management control practices. As public policy makers appear to be increasingly convinced that there is an economically damaging “gap” in terms of small and medium size enterprise (SME) stakeholder understanding of intangible asset management, the paper also evaluates the arguments and evidence concerning the applicability and relevance of the problems and proposed alternatives to SMEs.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the criticisms, empirical evidence and proposals to improve financi...