Intellectual capital

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Intellectual capital in a company describes values ​​that are due, for example, to: employee know-how, competent managers, innovative strength, value of a brand, good customer and supplier relationships as well as functioning processes in production and administration.

Leif Edvinsson was the first to use the expression “intellectual capital” for the term “intangible assets”, which had been used until then.

Demarcation

Intellectual capital is usually divided into three categories:

These three categories build on one another. With the help of human capital, structural capital is built up and both together then generate relationship capital.

Economist D. Klein and consultant L. Prusak define intellectual capital as "intellectual material that has been formalized and captured in order to leverage higher-value wealth."

Often, intellectual capital is also defined as the difference between the market value and the book value of a company.

Synonyms

Depending on the underlying understanding, the terms “intellectual capital”, “intangible assets”, “soft facts” or “intangible assets” are used synonymously.

development

In the course of the development towards a knowledge society , a person's knowledge is becoming increasingly important. As a result, people are increasingly talking about the intellectual capital of an individual. Here, the term “intellectual capital” encompasses the person's skills and knowledge, as well as his relationships with other people.

Measurement

There are different approaches to make intellectual capital visible, such as B. in intellectual capital statements for companies or for people at the knowledge bank .

swell

  • Intellectual capital
  • On the origin of intellectual capital statements in German-speaking countries

literature

  • Peter Pawlowsky, Leif Edvinsson (Ed.): Intellectual Capital and Competitiveness: An Inventory of Theory and Practice. Springer, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-8349-3305-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Rieble: Who invented the intellectual capital statement? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 12, 2011, accessed on May 12, 2011 (German).