Michael D. Moberly – October 17, 2023

Every business, irrespective of sector, size, stage of development is vulnerable to reputation risks. Business reputation represents a convergence of developing – applying the right forms and contexts of intangible (non-physical) assets, i.e., intellectual, structural, and/or relationship capital, in the right way, at the right time, at the right cost.

This contrasts, of course, with necessary strategic decisions by business leaders to purchase, apply, and deploy tangible (physical – fixed) assets, i.e., various types of equipment, machines, technologies, and/or structures, etc.

Reputation is an important obligation to distinguish because it can be sustainably beneficial and influential to a product, service, and attractivity of a business’s operating culture for valuation, competitiveness, and revenue generation purposes.

Irrespective of sector, size, stage, or maturation, business reputations (with few exceptions) are necessarily public, accessible, and reviewable. This necessary transparency allows for interpretation, misinterpretations, and public (viral) debate.

Necessarily, business reputations are ‘always on’, i.e., exposed, vulnerable, variously fragile, and often less (immediately) defensible to arrays of asymmetric risks. Some risks are gradual and foreseeable, while other (reputational) risks are intentional, circumstantial, personal, structural, ideological, and/or associational, etc. Each is deliverable at will, at keystroke speeds.

Risk to business reputations can, and not-infrequently does produce adverse effects which can derail, stymie, devalue, and undermine a business, leader, operating culture, and/or innovation and its underlying intellectual, structural, and/or relationship capital rapidly, spuriously, asymmetrically, and simultaneously.

Distinguishing – recognizing which, when, where, how, and why its obligatorily prudent to safeguard and mitigate risk to business reputation, ala ‘mission essential sets – applications of intangible assets, warrants familiarity with the ‘intangible asset components – sides of business economics and operation.’

Neither of which should be discounted, marginalized, tabled, or presumed ‘lighting only strikes a competitor’ because,

• 80+/-% of most businesses valuation, competitiveness, revenue generation capability, and wealth creation potential lie in – emerge directly from intangible (non-physical) assets.

Reputational intangible assets oblige – warrant leadership, management, stewardship, safeguards, and risk mitigation.

Let us be clear, a business’s reputation and brand is a ‘mission essential’ intangible asset which businesses devote time, thought, and resources to develop, curate, mold, build, market, and sustain.

Today, the defining story of a business, its innovation, and/or its leadership encompass resumes, reports, histories, compliances, and records, etc., each of which are mere ‘clicks’ away from peer review, affirmation, investigation, revelation, disinformation, misinformation, and potential unraveling, often in short order.

The ‘Business Intangible Asset Blog’ is experientially researched, authored, and produced by Michael D. Moberly, to provide readers with reliable perspectives – nuanced insights to business things intangible.