Intangibles. Lessons from the past and a look into the future
| Published date | 01 December 2003 |
| Date | 01 December 2003 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930310504590 |
| Pages | 597-604 |
| Author | Manuel García‐Ayuso |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,HR & organizational behaviour,Information & knowledge management |
Intangibles
Lessons from the past and a look into the
future
Manuel Garcı
´a-Ayuso
Accounting and Auditing, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
Keywords Knowledge, Competitive advantage, Research
Abstract An overwhelming literature on intangibles has been published over past three decades.
Based on the evidence provided by recent research studies and the experiences of companies and
policy makers this article provides a summary of our current knowledge on intangibles and
suggests some directions for future research and for the improvement of management and
reporting practices, as well as of policy making.
Over the past few decades, intangibles have become a major concern not only
for academics conducting research in a number of areas of human knowledge,
but also for business managers, investment and credit analysts, auditors,
investors and other stakeholders, and policy makers.
Based on the evidence provided by recent research studies and the
experiences of companies and policy makers presented at the conference “The
transparent enterprise: the value of intangibles”, these notes provide a brief
summary of the most relevant aspects of our current knowledge on intangibles
and suggest some directions for future research on the intangible determinants
of the value of companies and for the improvement of management practices
and policy making.
The following section looks into the past and summarizes what we have
learnt so far on intangibles. The second section focuses on the present and
identifies the issues that currently represent major concerns for business
managers, stakeholders and policy makers. The third section looks into the
future suggesting possible directions for research, management practice and
policy making. Wherever possible, issues are addressed from three
perspectives: intangibles management; reporting and valuation; and, policy
making.
What have we learned thus far?
The significant improvement in our understanding of the economic nature of
intangibles looms large among the remarkable achievements of recent research
on the invisible determinants of the value of companies. A broad consensus has
been reached on their definition and a number of classifications have been
developed, that have proven useful in different contexts. The critical questions
underlying research on intangibles are whether or not they are relevant and,
proven that they are, why and for what they are relevant.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
Intangibles
597
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 4 No. 4, 2003
pp. 597-604
qMCB UP Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/14691930310504590
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