Role Of Intangible Assets Research Articles

Rethinking bank business models: the role of intangibles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a new way of rethinking banking models by using qualitative research on intangibles. This is required because the banking sector has been transformed significantly by the changing environment over the past two decades. The 2007-2009 financial crisis also added to concerns about existing bank business models. Design/methodology/approach – Using qualitative data collected from interviews with bank managers and analysts in the UK, this paper develops a grounded theory of bank intangibles. Findings – The model reveals how intangibles and tangible/financial resources interact in the bank value creation process, how they actively respond to environmental changes, how bank intangibles are understood by external observers such as analysts, and how bankers and analysts differ in their views. Research limitations/implications – Grounded theory provides the means to further develop bank models as business models and theoretical models. This provides the means to think beyond conventional finance constructs and to relate bank models to a wider theoretical literature concerning intellectual capital, organisational and social systems theory, and “performativity”. Practical implications – Such development of bank models and of a systems perspective is critical to the understanding of banks by bankers, by observers and for their “critical and reflexive performativity”. It also has implications for systemic risk and bank regulation. Originality/value – The paper reveals the core role of intellectual capital (IC) in banks, in markets, and in developing theory and research at firm and system levels.

"Business Models, Intangibles, and Firm performance"

This paper contributes to the growing literature on Business Models (BM) and Corporate Entrepreneurship by examining the impact of BM changes and investments in intangibles on performance in a sample of 376 small and medium-sized Italian enterprises (SMEs) over the period 2000–2010. We compare firms that continue to be managed through the existing BM with matched firms that have changed their BM, by taking into account the complementary role of intangibles assets accompanying the BM change. We find that a modification of the BM has a positive effect on the ability of the firm to perform well when performance is measured by growth of sales and profitability; no significant effect is found in the case of productivity. Intangibles also show a significant impact on performance, but only when efficiency (total factors productivity) is used to measure the performance. The evidence of a complementary impact of BM and Intangibles is confirmed in the case of sales growth and productivity, as companies that have linked a BM modification to an investment in intangibles are better performers than those that have not.

Innovativeness and intangibles in transition: the case of Slovenia

The article presents the micro data on intangibles for Slovenia during the period 1994–2005 using an augmented method by Corrado et al. and analyses the role of intangibles in the Slovenian economy during the transition. By examining the organisational, information and communication technologies (ICT) and research and development (R&D) component of intangibles, we observe a decrease in the value of R&D capital that was to some extent offset by an increase in the value of ICT capital. We find that organisational workers had higher productivity than the average worker. The dynamic of change was gradual during the transition. The capitalisation of intangibles implied an average 4.5% increase of gross domestic product (GDP) for the new member states. Nonetheless, a worrying convergence can be observed between the tangible and the intangible capital. One can thus expect the intangibles have an important role in the future growth in Slovenia and across the European countries, but only if proper attention is devoted to them in terms of policy measures and regulation.

IT and Profit Persistence: The Role of Intangibles and Risk

We examine the impacts of information technology (IT) intangibles and risk on profit and its retention in heterogeneous competitive environments. We show that IT leaders achieve higher abnormal profits through IT intangibles possibly due to their leading position and skills in exploiting IT than their peers while a portion of benefits is attributable to higher risk. We also find evidence that abnormal profit accruing to IT leaders is retained over a reasonable time horizon while its sustainability is dependent on the degree of competition. Consistent with our expectation, the positive impacts of R&D and advertisement intensities on profit are competed away when the degree of competition is high. However, IT intangibles contribute to profits for both IT leaders and their peers without regard for the degree of competition. Interestingly, our results further suggest that firms in a leading position in IT (i.e., IT leaders) are able to achieve higher profits through IT intangibles relative to their peers in a more competitive environment. Overall, our study sheds new light on the economic gains that accrue to IT leaders and their counterparts and highlight the critical role of the IT intangibles and risk and their interplay with competition.

Intellectual Capital in a University: A Case of Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

Universities are the critical institutional actors in the innovation systems in a knowledge-based economy where intangible assets and investments are seen as essential elements to create value to the economic wealth. In India higher education and research institutions are going through an important transformation process with the aim of making them more productive, flexible, transparent and competitive. There is growing interest regarding intangibles and intellectual capital (IC) in the university systems and research centers.The objective of this paper is to address the importance of measuring and managing IC in universities to improve research management. This paper aims to provide some insights into the current role of intangibles in public higher education and research systems and to highlight some methodological and conceptual considerations.

Role of Intangible Assets in Foreign-Market Entry-Mode Decisions: A Longitudinal Study of American Lodging Firms

With the traditional research-based view approach to entry mode that examines the firm's strategies from its resource endowment and deployment (i.e., an inside-out view of the firm), which is different from the earlier paradigms (i.e., an outside-in view of the firm), this article investigates intangibles at the firm level and their impact on the choice of foreign-market entry mode to understand how to create value overseas. From the multinomial logistic regression analyses with data collected from the lodging industry between 1995 and 2005, the results of this study suggest that as marketing capital increases, entry mode seems to move from acquisition to joint venture to greenfield to contractual modes. In the case of employee efficiency, as human capital increases entry mode tends to move from joint venture to acquisition to greenfield to contractual modes, whereas in the case of top managers' efficiency, entry mode tends to move from joint venture to acquisition to contractual mode to greenfield, respectively.

Rethinking Asset‐Based Community Development Strategies in Post‐Earthquake China: The Role of Social Capital

AbstractTo date, the discussion of asset‐based community development strategies has focused on the ways in which tangible assets contribute to the material aspects of life. This paper adopts a different perspective by concentrating on the role of intangible assets, that is, social capital, in community development. Via semi‐structured interviews with users of a resource center's services and leaders of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and a quasi‐governmental organization, the author explores the ways in which social capital helps community redevelopment (especially rehabilitation) in post‐earthquake China. The paper concludes that there is room for NGOs to adopt a bottom‐up approach to community development provided they maintain an apolitical and knowledge‐specific stance.

From the publisher: The Journal Human Technology: An Ongoing Resource for Human-Technology Research

The purpose of this paper is to present the theoretical basis for a measurement and improvement system that will help organizations create a more innovative climate. The role of intangible assets in contributing to organizational innovativeness is clarified within six hypotheses on the basis of a cross-disciplinary literature review combining studies from psychology, human resources management, communication, information technology, and marketing. These factors range from the individual level to interaction with the environment surrounding the organization, and involve (a) individual psychological flexibility, (b) institutional and interpersonal trust, (c) diverse human resources, (d) strategic transformational leadership, (e) agile information and communication technology systems, and (f) coproduction of the brand with customers. © 2012 Vilma Luoma-aho, Marita Vos, Raimo Lappalainen, Anna-Maija Lamsa, Outi Uusitalo, Petri Maaranen, & Aleksi Koski, and the Agora Center, University of Jyvaskyla DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201205141650 Vilma Luoma-aho Department of Communication University of Jyvaskyla

Intangible assets as drivers of innovation: Empirical evidence on multinational enterprises in German and UK regional systems of innovation

The sources of value creation are increasingly relying on intangible assets (IAs). IAs are the lifeblood of knowledge-intensive industries where the new value added is disproportionally based on specialized, non-repetitious activities. However, while the role of IAs is recognised as central to sustain the competitiveness of firms and innovation systems, the understanding of the mechanisms through which IAs display their effects has not yet been fully grasped. By focussing on the processes through which investments in IAs occur, this paper aims to explore the key dimensions through which two specific IAs – organisational and network capital – are enhanced and contribute to the innovativeness and embeddedness of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in regional innovation systems. On the basis of over forty in-depth interviews to leading staff of German and UK flagship MNEs operating in the automotive, life science and ICT sectors, the paper shows that MNEs adopt rather distinctive strategies to develop IAs; that MNE degree of local embeddedness is strictly related to both the kind of IA strategy and the local environment; and that causation mechanisms are at work between MNE embeddedness and regional creation of IAs.

Fair value accounting: virtues and vices

The radical changes in 'business processes' as well as 'corporate strategies' have mandated the acknowledgement of the immense role of intangibles to corporate bottom lines. Besides, there has been an exponential growth in the spectrum of tradeable financial products. As a consequence, the need for a thoroughly restructured accounting system with standardised norms relating to accounting and reporting of intangibles and complex financial products is immediate to minimise financial debacles (of which there have been many in the last two decades). A lead in this direction was taken by the financial accounting standards board (hereafter referred to as 'FASB') of the USA by pronouncing the financial accounting standards 133, 141, 142 and 157 that usher in the era of 'fair value accounting'. In this article, we highlight some of the issues that are controversial, ambiguous or need further refinement in so far as fair value accounting is concerned.

The intangibles’ mindset of CFOs’ and corporate performance

This paper aims to analyze the companies’ view about the financial valuation of intangibles relevance and its influence on corporate performance. Based on the theory of resources, the role of intangibles in business competitiveness is justified. The traditional factors of production have become secondary, while the success is primarily based on the development and utilization of intangible resources. One of the main problems in managing the intangibles appears to be that, there is a general lack of information about them. Therefore, financial valuation of intangibles will result in significant benefits to the organization that will help determine business strategy, process design as well providing competitive advantage. It follows the hypothesis of this work, the greater known about their intangibles and the greater sensitivity to the financial valuation of them, the better performance. To achieve this objective, a field study is done, doing telephone calls to Basque Country companies’ financial managers.

What makes SMEs attractive to external successors?

Purpose – Taking company succession as an alternative means of embarking on an entrepreneurial activity, the aim of this study is to explore those intangible assets that are regarded as attractive from the viewpoints of external successors. Thereby, the focal point is on the preparation stage in which promising companies are identified and scrutinised.Design/methodology/approach – The strategy of research behind this paper is the application of a mixed methods approach that is divided into an internet‐mediated questionnaire and a series of in depth interviews (given priority).Findings – The findings suggest that intangible assets have a notable influence on the intention of an external successor to take over a company. This would suggest that the traditional issues considered with regard to company succession, such as tax, legal and financial aspects, should be extended to include intangible aspects. The findings are summarized by proposing a framework for the role of intangibles in external succession, t...

Improving the Business Plan Evaluation Process: the Role of Intangibles

One of the main objectives of the European MUSING project is to design and test software tools in order to support the activities of small and medium sized businesses. In this paper we examine financial risk management and, more specifically, the self-assessment of business plans. The role of intangible assets is discussed, and we report on how intangible assets can be collected, how they can be represented, taking into account their semantic relationships, and how they can be used to build an analytical tool for business plans. The basic technology embedded in the tool is the construction of classification trees, a well-known technique in inductive learning. We show how using knowledge of intangible assets can improve the construction of the classifier, as proved by the testing carried out so far.

The role of intangible assets in value creation: case of Russian companies

The paper is devoted to the question of the role o f intangible assets in value creation of companies in the economy of the XXI century. The main research objective is to define the impact of fundamental value o f both tangible and intangible assets on the market value of companies. Evaluation of intangible assets is based on residu al operating income (REOI) model. In the focus of the research there is a samp le of Russian companies. The model was tested on the whole sample of the companies, and then separately on eac h of five industries: mechanical engineering, extra ctive industry, power engineering, communication services, and metallurgy. ISSN: 1804-0527 (online) 1804-0519 (print) PP. 92-94

Leveraging intangibles: how firms can create lasting value

PurposeFirms are increasingly confronted with a complex and dynamic competitive environment. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the way firms can cope with – and succeed in – such an environment.Design/methodology/approachThe article examines major factors that are driving a global structural shift toward increased global competition. After identifying the difficulties behind the management of value creation, it focuses on the specific role of intangibles with a view to building a responsive firm.FindingsIt is found that intangibles are the key to sustaining value creation in a complex and dynamic environment. Following this, some consideration is given to the elements that help build responsive firms. The paper concludes by proposing actionable ways for managers to leverage intangible‐based practices.Originality/valueThe case for leveraging intangibles is advanced through a mix between an international business perspective and the combined role of knowledge and cluster‐like environments. Numerous real‐world examples help substantiate the analysis.

Do Investors Value a Firm's Commitment to Social Activities? The Moderating Role of Intangibles and the Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Previous empirical research has found mixed results of the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments on financial performance. In this paper we contribute to the literature by exploring the complex relationship between intangibles, CSR, and financial performance. In a two stage investor decision-making model we control for firms' investing in intangibles in our analysis of the impact of CSR on both accounting and market-based measures of financial performance. In addition, we study how a change in the legal environment, the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, affects the role of intangibles and its impact on the relation between CSR and firm value. Both Partial Least Squares and traditional OLS regression analyses were carried out to measure the impact of CSR intangibles, and its interaction, for a sample of the top corporate citizens as complied by KLD Research and Analytics. Our findings suggest that (1) a firm's commitment to social activities (CSR) contributes to its financial performance; (2) intangibles moderate the relation between CSR and firm value; and (3) an increase of the impact of intangibles on firm value in the post-SOX period to the detriment of CSR which is no longer significant.

Buyer intention to use internet-enabled reverse auctions

Information technology enabled exchanges in electronic markets have significant implications for buyer-supplier relationships. Building on studies that emphasize the role of intangible assets in in...

Proposta de uma sistemática de alocação de recursos em ativos intangíveis para a maximização da percepção da qualidade em serviços

Junto com o crescimento do setor de serviços tem-se o princípio da escassez, ou seja, é necessário fazer opções, não apenas relacionadas ao que fazer, mas também sobre o que não fazer, incluindo a prioridade hierárquica dos objetivos a serem atingidos. Uma das formas como os recursos podem ser utilizados deve levar em consideração a maximização da qualidade dos serviços oferecidos aos clientes. Esta alocação de recursos deve reconhecer o valor dos ativos intangíveis no resultado percebido pelos clientes do serviço. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste artigo é propor uma sistemática para alocação de recursos nos ativos intangíveis, os quais maximizem a percepção da qualidade pelos clientes de serviços. Para tanto, os ativos intangíveis serão relacionados aos atributos dos serviços percebidos obtendo-se assim o papel dos ativos intangíveis na formação dos atributos dos serviços, percebidos como prioritários. Para reforçar esta constatação, será utilizado o diagrama de enlace causal para obter a influência dos ativos intangíveis, seu comportamento, a interação entre eles e como um pode influenciar o outro. A partir do conhecimento dos ativos intangíveis, a alocação de recursos nestes ativos intangíveis possibilitará melhorias em outros ativos intangíveis, visto que há uma inter-relação entre eles, e entre os atributos considerados prioritários nos serviços mais relevantes.

Differentiation in financial markets: the human capital approach

PurposeHow can organisations and their key stakeholders, including the financial markets, benefit from the increased understanding of the role of intangibles in value creation in listed firms? One response is to challenge the finance industry to create innovative investment products based on analysis of intangibles, including human capital (HC), which can act as a lead indicator of future financial performance. This may require qualitative research specialist expertise in finance houses. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses qualitative data from the trading floor of Merrill Lynch in Sydney and Hong Kong, drawing on participatory action research, by the first author. It also draws on field research interview data with biotechnology executives, using a case study approach, by the second author.FindingsThe findings suggest that finance industry may need to move beyond the use of indices and ethical investment screens to more clearly understand the role of intangibles, such as HC, in value creation.Originality/valueThis paper described the evolution of a set of HC analysis models, and applies them to the biotechnology industry. The results indicate that more qualitative information on listed companies can be analysed and interpreted to make the investment process more transparent to all stakeholders, including securities analysts. This may influence other researchers to extend these approaches to improve the quality of intangibles analysis.

Management of Intellectual Resources

The article considers notion, diversity and sources of knowledge, the new role of intangible assets in organization as competitive advantage, the importance of intellectual resources. The main attention is paid to knowledge management functions and structures, new forms of organizations which create, spread and use intellectual resources.