Managing and reporting intangible assets in research technology organisations

In the last couple of years, new instruments and methods for measuring, valuing and managing different forms of intangible assets have been proposed. Firms started to implement comprehensive management techniques to identify and value different forms of intangible assets based on an integrative framework, incorporating different forms of intangible assets such as R&D and human capital. Research Technology Organisations (RTOs) present an interesting case for studying different forms of intangible assets, their interdependencies and their impact on outputs. The main business of these organisations is R&D; thus, nearly all forms of investments are related to the R&D process. Their outputs are knowledge-intensive products, services and public goods with the aim of improving the innovation output of their various customers. Some European RTOs have started to introduce new instruments for measuring and managing their intangible assets more explicitly. The paper investigates the general background, a specific model and empirical experiences of an Austrian RTO, which introduced an intellectual capital management system.     

Who Benefits from Training and R&D,the Firm or the Workers?

The present paper offers a novel study of the effects of intangible assets on wages and productivity. Training, R&D and physical capital are all taken into account, and their joint effects are examined. We use panels of firms in order to control for unobserved fixed effects and the potential endogeneity of training and R&D, using data for France and Sweden. The estimation of productivity and wage equations allows us to show how the benefits of investment in physical capital, training and R&D are shared between the firm and the workers. We found that firms indeed obtain the largest part of the returns to their investments, but their share is relatively lower for intangible assets (R&D and training) than for physical capital.     

无形资产的信息披露与市场检验——基于深圳创业板上市公司数据

本文以2011年5月18日之前成功上市的218家创业板上市公司作为研究对象,对广泛存在且不规则分布于招股说明书和年报中的与无形资产相关的信息进行了较为深入的挖掘和分析。一是对该类上市公司披露的信息进行了基于常规和非常规无形资产的统计分析,并指出无形资产信息披露困境源于相关学科尚未就同一现象形成共识。二是研究了各类无形资产与市净率和企业绩效的关系,发现我国创业板市场已初步具备发现和评价无形资产的功能。三是研究了政府补助、销售费用和研发费用对无形资产的影响。四是就提高创业板上市公司无形资产信息披露质量和促进该类企业实施无形资产优化战略提出了系列建议。     

无形资产对煤炭企业收益与风险的影响研究

本文采用实证对比分析方法,研究无形资产与煤炭企业盈利以及风险的关系,得出以下结论:无形资产与煤炭企业经营业绩、负债风险呈正向关系,并且对风险的放大效果大于对收益的放大。通过研究分析,进一步指出了煤炭企业利用无形资产经营、投资时获得高收益的同时伴随高风险,从而提出了相应的解决对策:均衡收益与风险、建立无形资产风险分散和补偿机制、建立无形资产内部控制机制。     

企业永续发展的制度安排

起点永远都不可能公平,公平的可能只会在终点。为了实现终点公平,在宏观上引入遗产税制．在微观上推行企业社会责任制度。在终点公平的制度安排下,企业要想实现永续发展．就要引入基金会的机制,通过基金会的捐赠活动,将自身的有形资产转化为无形资产．以无形资产的形式穿过威胁企业发展的“狭窄通道”．并且在无形资产增长的同时,实现有形资产的更大增长。以基金会为媒介．不断实现有形资产和无形资产的相互转换．这就是企业永续发展的制度安排。     

Assessment of intellectual capital management in Taiwanese IC design companies: using DEA and the Malmquist productivity index

While withstanding a highly competitive environment, an increasing number of firms have recognized that intangible assets rather than tangible ones are vital to achieving competitive advantages. Intellectual capital has replaced physical capital as the primary basis of value creation. Although the importance of intellectual capital in ensuring superior competitive advantages is well accepted, exactly how these two constructs are related has seldom been investigated, particularly for the high-technology industry. Taking a sample of 39 Taiwanese IC design companies, this study adopted data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index to evaluate the impact of intellectual capital on competitive advantage. The analytical results revealed that approximately one third of the companies sampled had excellent efficiency in intellectual capital management, while the others still had considerable room to improve their intellectual capital management. The results of this study provide a valuable reference for future studies in alternative contexts.     

Measuring intangible value in business-to-business buyer-seller relationships: An intellectual capital perspective

The value that resides in a firm's relationships has both tangible and intangible aspects and both need to be developed and managed carefully. Marketing managers need to be able to understand these dimensions of value to manage them and to argue for their share of the firm's resources to effectively develop the value of the firm's relationships. This paper describes a study that adds to current knowledge of relationship value by testing a hypothesized model of the intangible part of the value that is manifested in buyer-seller relationships and by developing a set of scales to measure the hypothesized dimensions. The focus of the research, which synthesizes a conceptual framework from the intellectual capital literature, is on business-to-business situations and on the value of the relationship to the seller, rather than to the buyer. The analysis of data from a survey of relevant managers, using structural equation modeling techniques, gives support to the model and scales.     

Status in a strange land? Context‐dependent value of status in cross‐border venture capital

Research Summary: While recent literature has depicted status as an intangible asset that is firm‐specific and mobile, we have a limited understanding of whether status confers advantage in a way similar to other intangible assets. This study examines the macro‐structural contingencies that influence the marginal value of firm status as firms expand to new markets. Building on the literatures on status and social approval assets, as well as globalization and international management, we hypothesize that two conditions influence how valuable home‐country status will be in a given host country: the interconnectedness of the home and host countries, and their relative position in the global network. We test our hypotheses in a study of 187 venture capital (VC)‐backed biotechnology ventures in 19 countries between 1990 and 2006. Managerial Summary: Startups typically prefer high‐status VC investors for endorsements, network connections, and resources. One might expect the benefits of high‐status VCs to be even higher when they invest across borders. Yet, we show that status is ingrained in context, and that the performance advantage of partnering with high‐status cross‐border VC firms depends on the relationship between the country of the VC firm and that of the startup. We find that, when the VC industries in the two countries are more connected, the positive effect of cross‐border VC firm status on successful exit is amplified. However, when the VC firm comes from a more central country than the startup, the benefits of VC firm status are less pronounced and vice versa.     

企业捐赠作用的综合解析

本文提出一个综合的理论解释框架,将捐赠作用划分为四类:合法保护——企业通过捐赠购买利益相关者的“伤害权,”提高组织的合法性,减少企业经营中的不确定性,维持企业正常运行;伤害保险——慈善捐赠将形成积极的道德资本,当企业经营活动伤害到利益相关者时,道德资本能降低受害者制裁/报复企业的强度,并减少企业关系资产的损失;间接增值——慈善捐赠可以通过改善企业与利益相关者的关系来间接提升企业绩效;直接增值——精心设计的战略性慈善捐赠可以改善企业经营环境,直接提升企业绩效。     

The relationships between intangible organizational elements and organizational performance

Despite the growing awareness of the importance of researching core strategic resources and activities, the work that has been done to date has largely taken the form of anecdotal reports and case study analysis. We have yet to see large‐sample studies demonstrating how organizational elements, independently, complementarily and interactively, may or may not enhance the organization's performance. Moreover, little attention has been given to researching this topic in public sector organizations. The present study aims to bridge this gap by examining the impact of a set of independent intangible organizational elements and the interactions among them on a set of objective organizational performance measures in a sample of local government authorities in Israel. The results of a multivariate analysis indicate that organizational performance (measured by self‐income ratio, collecting efficiency ratio, employment rate, and municipal development) can be well explained by six intangible organizational elements (managerial capabilities, human capital, internal auditing, labor relations, organizational culture, and perceived organizational reputation) and the interactions among them, which need to be taken into account in any cost effective development. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

经济增长驱动因素分析——基于无形资产投资视角

为了探讨无形资产对经济增长的贡献,本文从回顾经济增长理论的沿革历程入手,分析了不同发展阶段经济增长理论中无形资产对经济增长的贡献,指出无形资产已经成为经济增长的驱动因素。文章认为,新经济增长理论虽然论证了知识和科技进步等无形资产是经济增长的决定性因素,但是,为了充分地揭示无形资产的经济贡献,新经济增长理论在其框架结构及对驱动因素的分析方法等方面需要进一步地探索和修正。     

Intangible capital,ICT and sector growth in China

This paper explores how intangible capital affects the growth of ICT-intensive sectors in China by examining 29 sectors in 30 regions for the years 2003–2015. It is shown that the value added in ICT-intensive sectors in China will grow faster in regions with faster development of intangible capital. This effect is robust to alternative measures of intangible capital and ICT intensity indicators, and even if other region-level determinants of sector growth such as human capital, non-ICT physical capital and financial market development are taken into consideration. The findings imply that Chinese policy makers should aim for not only more ICT investment but also the development of intangible capital.     

A framework, process and tool for managing technology‐based assets

Technology organisations centre their business on the development of new technology‐based offerings (i.e. products and services). The strategic management of technology‐based assets is therefore crucial for these organisations as an imperative for business success. However, these assets are often intangible and reflect future rather than current value and are therefore difficult to manage when using traditional managerial concepts. This study investigates integrative mechanisms addressing the management of technology‐based assets and offerings in a technology organisation. The approach taken was to study the views and practices regarding the management of technology‐based assets in a number of strategic units of a technology organisation (CSIR, South Africa). The study maintains that the management of technology‐based assets and offerings requires clear strategic management of the process of technological innovation with special emphasis on the management of the intellectual capital (IC) and the intellectual property (IP) of the organisation. The study describes a framework linking the core processes supporting the management of technology‐based assets and offerings with other organisational elements such as leadership, strategy, and culture. Specific key links between the core process of innovation and the strategic management of investment in technology‐based assets using a portfolio approach are discussed.     

企业智力资本与企业资本结构优化

在新经济环境下，如何有效地利用和管理智力资本已成为创造企业竞争优势的重要手段之一。本文试图从智力资本的构成及其综合财务度量指标入手，建立在权衡智力资产创造企业价值的激励制度下的资本结构优化分析模型，通过这个模型的分析和简要案例的剖析得到结论：应用智力资产贡献率和贡献增长率指标在一定程度上可以度量智力资本的贡献；适宜的智力资产贡献激励能够促使代理人优化资本结构；在考虑智力资产贡献激励情况下，企业代理人会寻找更有效的手段（如资产负债综合重组优化）来优化企业资本结构。     

Which Tangible and Intangible Assets Matter for Innovation Speed in Start‐Ups?*

The launch of the first product is an important event for start‐ups, because it takes the new venture closer to growth, profitability, and financial independence. The new product development (NPD) literature mainly focuses its attention on NPD processes in large firms. In this article insights on the antecedents on innovation speed in large firms are combined with resource‐based theory and insights from the entrepreneurship literature to develop hypotheses concerning the antecedents of innovation speed in start‐ups. In particular, tangible assets such as starting capital and the stage of product development at founding and intangible assets such as team tenure, experience of founders, and collaborations with third parties are considered as important antecedents for innovation speed in start‐ups. A unique data set on research‐based start‐ups (RBSUs) was collected, and event‐history analyses were used to test the hypotheses. The rich qualitative data on the individual companies are used to explain the statistical findings. This article shows that RBSUs differ significantly in their starting conditions. The impact of starting conditions on innovation speed differs between software and other companies. Although intuition suggests that start‐ups that are further in the product development cycle at founding launch their first product faster, our data indicate that software firms starting with a beta version experience slower product launch. The amount of initial financing has no significant effect on innovation speed. Next, it is shown that team tenure and experience of founders leads to faster product launch. Contrary to expectations, alliances with other firms do not significantly affect innovation speed, and collaborations with universities are associated with longer development times.     

Total factor productivity enablers in the ICT industry: A cross-country firm-level analysis

Advancements in productivity in the digital economy constitute an important engine for economic growth. What drives productivity dynamics in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector? This study examines the productivity dynamics of ICT firms across countries from the perspective of corporate balance sheets. We study the effects of intangible assets and leverage on productivity growth using firm-level panel data from five industrialized countries. We find that intangible assets positively affect the total factor productivity in the ICT sector. The positive effect of intangible assets on total factor productivity growth is larger for ICT manufacturing firms than for ICT service firms. We also find that leverage has a positive relationship with total factor productivity development in the ICT sector. In addition, our empirical results substantiated that productivity is catching up to the technological frontier. Furthermore, larger firms and/or younger firms generally show higher total factor productivity growth than their peers. Economies of scale are more prominent in the ICT service sector than in the ICT manufacturing sector. Our findings contribute to the understanding of cross-country productivity dynamics in the ICT sector at the firm level in the digital economy.     

A framework linking intangible resources and capabiliites to sustainable competitive advantage

This article is concerned with the role of intangible resources in business strategy. In particular it is concerned with identifying the intangible sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Sustainable competitive advantage results from the possession of relevant capability differentials. Regulatory and positional capabilities are concerned with intangible assets; functional and cultural capabilities are concerned with competencies. A framework linking intangible resources to capabilities has been devised and is used as the basis of a new technique for identifying the relative contribution which the different intangible resources make to competitive advantage. The results of the use of this technique in six case studies are reported.     

上市公司国有资产价值流失分析

本文通过对资产概念的广义理解，界定了上市公司国有资产总价值及流失体系，然后从市场价值、安全价值、权力价值和无形价值等四个方面分别探讨了上市公司国有资产的价值流失问题。本文认为，造假、圈钱、内部人控制是当前严重的上市公司国有资产价值流失问题，上市公司国有资产的控制权、监督权、剩余索取权等权力的丧失，上市公司国有资产风险的增加，上市公司国有资产增值、保值机会的丧失以及无形资产价值的流失都是上市公司国有资产价值流失的表现形式。     

融资租赁对中国技术引进的影响分析——以高新技术产业发展为例

在对前人研究成果总结评价的基础上，本文选取1981～2013年共33个样本数据，通过建立一阶误差修正模型，以高新技术产业的发展为例，实证分析了融资租赁对中国技术引进的影响，实证结果表明与高新技术产业相关的融资租赁业务对该国技术引进具有显著的促进作用。最后，根据研究结论提出不但要大力发展融资租赁业、推动融资租赁与高新技术产业的融合，还应削弱或取消租赁设备附带性的技术等无形资产的限制性数量标准，将融资租赁的标的物范围扩充至独立性的无形资产，在更高水平上促进中国的技术引进。