TABLE OF CONTENTS Much of the value of a company is in its intangibles. These include assets such as brands, customer relationships, patents, trademarks and, of course, knowledge. Yet, while most businesses have accountants, financial analysts and auditors identifying and accounting for their physical assets, few have attempted to systematically measure their intangible assets. These 'unreported' assets represent the intellectual capital of a firm. The growing discrepancy between book value and market value has stimulated several pioneering organizations to embark on programmes of intellectual capital measurement. Notable among these pioneers is Skandia, which since 1994 has published intellectual capital supplements to its six-monthly financial reports. A growing number of organizations have followed suit and in 1998 the Danish Ministry of Trade and Industry embarked on a pilot project with 19 organizations to produce intellectual capital reports and to develop some workable guidelines. [16]
Celemi, a Swedish developer of learning tools, has published Celemi Monitor - its annual intangible asset accounts - since 1996. It reports measures in three main categories - customers, people and organization, the latter two constituting what it calls its knowledge capital. One people indicator that it reports on is the 'rookie ratio', the percentage of employees that have been in the company for less than one year. The measurement process has given the organization a deeper understanding of the factors that drive its future success. Colour coding of measures maintains visibility of intangible asset performance against Celemi's strategic goals.
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