Intellectual assets and public policy
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930710830855 |
| Published date | 23 October 2007 |
| Date | 23 October 2007 |
| Pages | 708-720 |
| Author | Robert Huggins,Maria Weir |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,HR & organizational behaviour,Information & knowledge management |
Intellectual assets and public
policy
Robert Huggins
Enterprise and Regional Development Unit, The Management School,
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, and
Maria Weir
Intellectual Assets Centre, Glasgow, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The key purpose of this article is to provide an understanding of the rationale for, and an
assessment of, public policy intervention to alleviate a perceived market failure in the area of
intellectual asset management by firms.
Design/methodology/approach – Utilising secondary data, the article initially constructs an
Intellectual Asset Index for UK regions. This is followed by an assessment of public policy
intervention, mainly reliant on data captured through semi-structured interviews.
Findings – Whilst public policy appears to be relatively successful in facilitating firms to develop a
greater knowledge and understanding of the role of intangibles in maintaining and improving
organisational competitiveness, it faces far greater challenges in attempting to convert increased
awareness and understanding into the proactive management and exploitation of these intangibles by
firms.
Research limitations/implications – Theresearch was undertaken relatively soon after the policy
intervention it assesses was implemented. Therefore, the full impact of such public policy was unlikely
to be realised at this stage.
Practical implications – The article provides a range of findings and implications that can be
utilised by policymakers considering or already intervening in the provision of support to help firms
better manage their intellectual assets.
Originality/value – Both the construction of the regional Intellectual Asset Index and the
assessment of public policy attempt to provide an understanding of the link between the performance
of firms and the competitiveness of the locations in which they are based.
Keywords Intangible assets,Public policy, Competitive strategy,Small to medium-sized enterprises,
Scotland
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Intellectual assets (IA) are those knowledge-based items an organisation owns which
have the capacity to produce a future stream of benefits for the organisation.
Intellectual capital (IC), on the other hand, is the total “stock” of knowledge-based
equity a company “possesses” rather than necessarily owns. Intellectual assets consist
of recordable intangible corporate assets, and include assets such as the company
name, reputation and goodwill to the company, as well as company brands, trade
secrets, business processes and know how. Intellectual assets are context specific. As
Bontis et al. (1999) explain, what an organisation can and cannot influence depends on
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of all those involved in the Innovative
Actions programme and of Nia Emlyn-Jones for her part in the evaluation process.
JIC
8,4
708
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 8 No. 4, 2007
pp. 708-720
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/14691930710830855
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