Importance of intangible assets?

What is the importance of intangible assets?

Relevance of intellectual capital?

Intangible assets or intellectual assets are particularly relevant for:
- The Economy as a whole,
- Organizations,
- Strategy,
- Finance, and
- Accounting.

Intellectual assets have been around since the dawn of civilization. Due to certain factors, including increased competition (globalization, deregulation) and the advent of information technology (notably the internet), the structures of corporations were changed. This combination of factors catapulted the relative significance of intangible assets in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century compared to their tangible peers into the major value drivers of business in our modern economy:
- In 1978, 5% of all assets were intangible,
- In 1998, 72% of all assets were intangible,
- Currently, 75-85% of all assets are intangible.

Because intangible assets are not acknowledged at balance sheets, this has dramatically decreased the usefulness of accounting.

Compare also: Organizational Learning | Organic Organization

“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted”.

(Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955, American theoretical physicist)

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