The rules of engagement (for safeguarding and managing business information assets) have changed and we must think differently about the effectiveness of past practices and conventions.
There are four good reasons why its important that a company’s intangible assets are aligned with its core business and why such an exercise is a worthy use of a management teams’ time.
The management, stewardship, and oversight of company intangibles are rapidly moving from options, i.e., I’ll do it when I have the time or when I see my competitors do it, to straight-up fiduciary responsibilities which cannot be prudently delegated to the uninitiated.
Strategic planning for intangible assets often falls short on two fronts, (1,) it overlooks the role, contributions, and ways intangible assets can be used/leveraged to facilitate – enable achieving a company’s goals, objectives, and vision, and (2.) it tends to be too focused on ‘tangible – physical assets’.
Engaging intangible assets begins by ensuring that management teams recognize (1.) what intangible assets are, (2.) their contributions to company value, revenue, and sustainability, and (3.) how intangibles are literally embedded in – interact with company processes, procedures, and operations to enhance effectiveness, create efficienies, and produce competitive advantages.
Not surprisingly, 94 of the 120 respondents to an Accenture – Economist Intelligence Unit survey said that ‘managing intangible assets and/or intellectual capital is an important management issue’.