Measuring and Managing Intellectual Capital: an Examination of Critical Success Factors

The knowledge economy has brought a new set of dynamics to the twenty first century business and economy. It is undeniable that currently knowledge and innovation dominate the physical and financial assets. The gap between book value and market value is vast and continuously increasing in many firms. These trends have made it crucial to accurately measure and effectively manage intellectual capital. Although, the importance of intellectual capital is widely recognized, intellectual capital measurement and management processes are still not well structured in most companies. This is mainly due to the difficulty of measuring and managing intangible assets, as they are not clearly observable as tangible assets. However, today for many companies, it is favorable, even essential to create and extract value from their intellectual capital in order to obtain and maintain competitive advantage and generate profits in the long run. This book offers a comprehensive overlook on the measurement and management of intellectual capital and provides case studies on two pioneer companies in intellectual capital management, Skandia and Dow.