Michael D. Moberly October 5, 2009
Intangible asset management is defined here as consistent stewardship, oversight, and monitoring (of the assets) to ensure control, use, ownership, and value are sustained and preserved indeterminately to reflect the owners’ – holders’ will.
But, when management teams and boards are dismissive of (a.) the economic fact that 65+% of their company’s value, sources of revenue, and sustainability lie in intangible assets, and (b.) the execution of essential asset management requisites (as noted above), it’s likely they will find few, if any, economic benefits, competitive advantages, or efficiencies flowing to their company from their intangibles.
Board and management team responsibilities underlying effective intangible asset management include:
1. identifying and unraveling the origins and development of the assets that are developed internally or acquired externally, etc.
2. assessing the assets relative to, among other things, their contribution to company value, revenue, competitive advantages, and reputation, etc.
3. ensuring the assets are aligned-integrated with the company’s core mission and strategic objectives, etc.
4. consistently monitoring the assets to determine if erosion or undermining of value or competitive advantage has occurred or reputational risk has elevated, etc.
5. consistently putting intangibles on management-board agendas to, among other things, consider ways to ‘bundle’ the assets to (a.) make them more revenue/value useful, (b.) increase their ‘attractivity’ to investment, (b.) position-leverage them to enhance market position, (d.) deliver more competitive advantages, and (d.) create operational efficiencies, etc.
