Michael D. Moberly March 14, 2013 ‘A blog where attention span matters’.
As conveyed numerous times in this blog; underlying the stewardship, oversight, and management of a company’s intangible assets is board, c-suite, and management team recognition that practices must be in place to sustain (protect, preserve) control, use, ownership, and monitor asset value, materiality, and risk.
In my view, there are no particular priorities attached to these tasks (responsibilities) but, I’m increasingly confident that if any aspect is dismissed, overlooked, neglected, or otherwise does not occur, or fails, little else may matter, because asset value and the competitive advantages being produced/delivered will quickly be undermined, compromised, or stolen with asset value ‘going to zero’! And that readers, is attributable to the increasingly aggressive, globally predatorial, and ‘legacy free’ business transaction environment that is so prevalent.
To remedy or preferably prevent such calamities which can, in more instances than are publicly reported and understood, amount to financial catastrophes or collapses because they’re often irreversible and/or very costly for a victim company to return to a state of revenue generation normalcy and competitive advantage position. In other words, once intangible assets have been compromised, having available (or, at least knowing) an intangible asset risk specialist may be worth considering if not become a (fiduciary) requisite.
Should there be hesitancy, reluctance, or worse, the feeling of invincibility by company decision makers, it’s important to remember the global economic fact that 65+% of most company’s value, sources of revenue, and ‘building blocks’ for growth, profitability, and sustainability today lie in – evolve directly from intangible assets! The compromise of one (key, contributory intangible asset) may well prompt adverse cascading (reputation risk) affects throughout an enterprise and its stakeholders.
To be sure, an intangible asset (risk) specialist, familiar with the ever expanding array of sophisticated, globally asymmetric, costly, and momentum stifling types of risks that adversely affect intangible assets when materialized, would bring measurable ‘ROI’ (benefits) some of which include…
- Developing a strategic plan to monitor asset risks, value, and materiality changes in accordance with assets’ respective value and functionality cycle.
- Adding predictability to business transaction outcomes, projected returns, and anticipated exit strategies when intangibles are in play and/or part of a deal by assessing their stability, fragility, defensibility, and vulnerability.
- Conducting specialized market entry and/or transaction due diligence assessments regarding the intangible assets in play, in both pre – post transaction contexts.
- Reducing the probability that project/deal momentum will be stifled by recognizing and mitigating circumstances that can (a.) ensnare and/or entangle the assets in costly and time consuming legal challenges, (b.) undermine/erode asset value and performance, (c.) adversely affect asset reputation ‘risk points’, i.e., product- service quality expectations of consumers and other stakeholders.
- Building an ‘risk intelligent company culture’ for intangible assets that converges with a company’s business objectives.
- Designing and executing comprehensive organizational resilience (continuity, contingency) plans that encompass mission critical intangible assets in order to preferably produce quicker recovery of asset value, revenue production, and market position, etc., following significant business disruptions or disasters.
- Monitoring (internal, external) intangible asset value chains, i.e., the inter-connectedness between the production, acquisition, and utilization of intangibles vis-a-vis their contributions to company value, revenue, and creating and sustaining competitive advantages.
- Providing on-going guidance to business units and management teams regarding effective stewardship, oversight and management of intangibles relative to identifying, unraveling, bundling, and extracting value and delivering competitive advantages.
The contributory value of intangibles (to company revenue, future wealth creation, and sustainability) continues to rise as intangibles have become increasingly integral to knowledge-intensive industries operating in global knowledge-based economies. These interacting economic and intellectual, structural, and relationship capital phenomena consistently put intangibles, quite literally, in play and, ‘at risk’ in most very business transaction and/or activity.
Each blog post is researched and written by me with the genuine intent they serve as a useful and respectful medium to elevate awareness and appreciation for intangible assets throughout the global business community.
Most of my posts focus on issues related to identifying, unraveling, and sustaining control, use, ownership, and monitoring asset value, materiality, and risk. As such, my blog posts are not intended to be quick bites of information piggy-backed to other sources, or unsubstantiated commentary.
Comments regarding my blog posts are encouraged and respected. Should any reader elect to utilize all or a portion of any of my posts, attribution is expected and always appreciated. While visiting my blog readers are encouraged to browse other topics (posts) which may be relevant to their circumstance or business transaction. I always welcome your inquiry at 314-440-3593 or [email protected]
