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.