Since the second half of the 20th century, the World Economy has been evolving on the basis of new events of a global nature, or what is the same, objective conditioners and subjective factors that have ultimately marked or become a new stage, clearly differentiating from its predecessor the Industrial Revolution.
The differentiating element par excellence between the so-called Industrial Age and the Information Age is in the relevant and preponderant role that more and more intangible elements play in the process of creating value in companies.
If until then the economy of the Industrial Age crowned the tangible elements as the absolute sources of value, the Current Economy is the protagonist of this Information Age, based on the development of communications, computing, robotics, multimedia networks and innovative concepts such as: Balanced Scorecard, Human Resources Management, Knowledge without Borders, Strategic Planning, Process Approaches, etc., aims to crown a new King: The Intangibles or Intellectual Capital, thus locating, in a fair way, those elements that under current conditions and foreseeably for the future, they contribute an increasing share to the new value created.
According to Savage, (1991) the four factors of wealth creation in an economy have always been land, work, capital and knowledge, but the relative importance of each of them has varied considerably over time. Regarding this, Drucker (1995) stated: “The true dominant resource and absolutely decisive factor of production is no longer land, capital, or labor; it is knowledge ”.
So the influence of factors such as staff satisfaction, people's skills, leadership, teamwork, innovation capacity, organizational culture, business philosophy, company image, the process of Strategic planning, the structure of the organization and the work environment make the mechanisms of knowledge transmission become decisive elements in the process of improvement and market dominance.
Walter Wriston, in his influential book The Twilight of Sovereignty, writes: “Indeed, the new source of wealth is not material; it is information, knowledge applied to work to create value ”.
The technological advances achieved have resulted in the predominance of an invaluable intangible asset: knowledge; used by companies to develop products and services with added value, responding to the need to take advantage of the informational, technological and economic resources available to them.
The value of a business is increasingly directed towards intangible assets. For companies dedicated to providing services closely related to this asset, it is vitally important to recognize that they operate in knowledge societies, they have a growing need for contacts with the environment to acquire and share essential knowledge for the development of their business, helping to increase the gap between book value and market value.
This century has been characterized by strong growth in the volume of non-tangible investments made by companies. Currently the economic nature of intangibles is a priority for managers, investors, financial analysts, risk analysts, economists, accountants and politicians; because it has been proven that knowledge constitutes a valuable weapon that conditions the successful development of entities; in as much they place them in frank competitive advantages.
In this sense, Goldfinger (1997) pointed out: "The transition towards a knowledge-based economy is changing the business world." Being knowledge a source of generation of competitive advantages, companies must develop their capacity to identify, measure and manage it.
Intangible assets arose in response to a growing recognition by the accounting community that elements other than tangible assets can play an important role in the real value of a company.
Intangible assets are not intended to sustain that physical or tangible assets lack importance or effects on management and business competitiveness, but rather they represent the base of a pyramid that leads the future of the company, where tangibles signifying material conditions necessary, they are not sufficient on their own, they are accompanied by an investment in intangibles, thus achieving great competitive advantages in the market.
According to Monogas Docasal, since the mid-90s, some experiences of leading companies, especially from the Nordic countries, have led to a system of concepts related to the field of knowledge management and intellectual capital, among which Skandia, ABB, ATP, Coloplast A / S, Ramboll, Telia and WM Data stand out.
Since the term intellectual capital began to emerge strongly, in the early 1990s in the United States and Sweden, it has evolved - see the more detailed evolution to the beginning of this century, table # 1- in an attempt to measure the value of the intangibles of the companies.
Table # 1: Evolution of Intellectual Capital
| Period | Progress |
| Early 1980s | General notions of intangible value. |
| Mid 1980s | The age of "information" takes the initiative and the space between book value and the market is greatly expanded for many companies. |
| In the late 1980s | Early attempts by specialists to build the foundation for measuring intellectual capital (Sveiby, 1988). |
| In the early 1990s | Systematic initiatives to measure and report intellectual capital abroad (eg Celemi and Skandia; SCSI, 1995). In 1990 Skandia AFS appointed Leif Edvinsson as “Director of Intellectual Capital”. This is the first time that the role of managing intellectual capital has been elevated to a formal position, with an air of corporate legitimacy. Kaplan and Norton introduce the concept of Balanced Scorecard (1992). The scorecard evolved around the premise of "what you measure is what you get." |
| Mid 1990 | Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) present their highly influential work in "The Knowledge Creation Company". Although the book concentrates on knowledge, the distinction between knowledge and intellectual capital is fine enough to make it a relevant book in the pure foci of intellectual capital. The simulation tool, Tango, created by Celemi, was launched in 1994. Tango is the first widely-enabled executive education product on the importance of intangibles. Also in 1994, a supplement to Skandia's annual report is made focused on presenting an assessment of the company's stocks of intellectual capital. “Visualizing the intellectual capital” generates the interest of other companies that try to follow the example of Skandia Edvinsson, L (1997). Celemi in (1995),it uses a “knowledge review” to offer a detailed assessment of the state of intellectual capital. |
| In the late 1990s | Intellectual capital becomes a popular topic, with researchers and academic lectures, working articles, and other publications finding a notable audience. An increasing number of large-scale projects (eg the MERITUM; Danish; Stockholm project) are beginning, with the aim of introducing greater academic rigor into intellectual capital research, to standardize concepts and classifications. In 1999, an international symposium on intellectual capital was convened in Amsterdam. In 1999, Harvey and Lusch introduce intangible liabilities into intellectual capital. |
| In early 2000 | Caddy (2000) defines intellectual capital as the difference between intangible assets and liabilities. Kaplan and Norton (2004) in their book “Strategic Maps” provide a macro vision of the strategy of an organization. Andriessen (2004) realizes a state of the art of the different models of Intellectual Capital. Different authors (Konar et al. 2001; Porto 2003; Viedma, 2003; Garcia-Ayuso et al.; 2004) suggest the existence of intangible liabilities in different areas of study. Arend (2004) studies the strategic liabilities in companies. |
| In late 2000 | The information age is definitely gaining strength and intellectual capital is investigated and measured not only in companies in the Nordic countries, nor in Europe fundamentally; but also in Cuba, specifically in the hotel industry. |
We currently have no idea which companies, large or small, young or old, have a sustainable organizational capacity. Rich Karlgaard, Director of Forbes ASAP, identified this disaster and what it would take to correct it, in a 1993 editorial:
"As an index, book value is totally dead… Human intelligence and intellectual resources are today the most valuable assets of any company… New intangible values are on the rise today… For now, society totally lacks the measurement system necessary to measure these new sources of wealth. "
We are not facing a temporary aberration but a systemic failure in the way of measuring value, a fundamental discrepancy between the history that tells the balance sheet and the true one that the organizations themselves live on a daily basis.
Conceptualization of Intellectual Capital
Intellectual capital is not a new term, but has been around from the moment the first vendor established a good relationship with a customer. According to Osorio Núñez, 2003, later, it was called goodwill. However, over the past two decades an explosion has occurred in certain key technical areas, including the media and information technologies, which have provided new tools for building a global economy.
With the current development in this field of research, intellectual capital is generally understood as the set of intangible assets that any entity of a social, relational and structural nature possesses. Despite an apparent stabilization of contributions during the turn of the century, new lines of research are progressively opening, for the sake of greater compression.
Until today the definition has been elusive; But in recent years, driven by necessity, individuals and groups from various disciplines have begun to face the challenge of finding a standardized explanation.
According to Brooking, 1997, the concept of Intellectual Capital has been incorporated in recent years in both the academic and business world to define the set of non-material contributions that in the information age are understood as the main asset of companies in the third millennium.
Intellectual Capital is an expression that combines two fundamental ideas: intelligence in action or the results of the intellectual exercise and its valuation or measurement, in terms similar to those used to explain financial capital.
It represents the total value of the intangible assets that the company owns at a given moment in time (these are static documents), just as the value of its own resources or the financial equivalent of its net tangible assets appears on its usual balance sheet.
The term Intellectual Capital has been widely discussed, Table # 2 contains more specifically some of the main definitions raised in the literature, specifying author, year and definition.
Table # 2: Main Definitions of Intellectual Capital
| Authors | Year | Definition |
| Stewart | 1991 | "Intellectual Capital is everything that cannot be touched but can make the company earn money." |
| Jonson | nineteen ninety six | “Intellectual Capital is hidden within a traditional accounting concept, called Goodwill. The difference is that Goodwill traditionally stresses unusual but real assets, such as factory brands. In comparison, Intellectual Capital seeks even less tangible assets, such as the ability of a company to learn and adapt. " |
| Annie Brooking | nineteen ninety six | "The term Intellectual Capital refers to the combination of intangible assets that allow the company to function." |
| Leif EdvinssonSullivan | nineteen ninety six | "Intellectual Capital is that knowledge that can be turned into a benefit in the future and that is made up of resources such as ideas, inventions, technologies, computer programs, designs and processes." |
| Leif Edvinsson, Michael Malone | 1997 | "The possession of knowledge, applied experience, organizational technology, customer relationships and professional skills that give a competitive advantage in the market." |
| Bradley | 1997 | "Intellectual Capital consists of the ability to transform knowledge and intangible assets into resources that create wealth both in companies and in countries" |
| Sveiby | 1997 | "Intellectual Capital is made up of all those tacit or explicit knowledge that generates economic value for the company." |
| Ross and Ross | 1997 | "Intellectual Capital is the sum of the knowledge of its members and the practical interpretation of that knowledge, that is, of its trademarks, patents and procedures." |
| Stewart | 1998 | "Intellectual Capital is made up of gray matter: knowledge, information, intellectual property, material experience that can be used to create wealth." |
| Malhotra | 2000 | "Intellectual Capital represents the group of intangible assets that can be identified and measured." |
| Roos et al | 2001 | "The Intellectual Capital of a company is the sum of the knowledge of its members and its practical interpretation." |
| Nevado Peña-López Ruiz | 2002 | "It is the set of assets of the company that, although not reflected in the financial statements, generate or will generate value for it in the future, as a consequence of aspects related to human capital and other structural ones, such as the capacity for innovation, customer relationships, the quality of processes, products and services, the cultural and communicational capital allows a company to take better advantage of the opportunities than others, leading to the generation of future benefits ”. |
| Canista BatistaMelián GonzálezSánchez Medina | 2002 | “Intellectual Capital is the combination of intangible or intangible assets, including staff knowledge, the ability to learn and adapt, relationships with customers and suppliers, brands, product names, internal processes, and the R&D capacity, etc., of an organization, which although they are not reflected in the traditional financial statements, generate or will generate value in the future and on which a sustained competitive advantage can be sustained ”. |
The main definitions raised in the literature are reflected in table # 3, appreciating that some authors consider Intellectual Capital as knowledge, capabilities, relationships, intellectual property, integrating these elements, it can be said that Intellectual Capital is the result of combination and interaction of all the knowledge that a company gathers, the skills and accumulated experiences of its members, their motivation and commitment added to the processes, discoveries, innovations, impact on the market, influence on society and in terms of relationships.
Table # 3: Main Acceptances of Intellectual Capital
| Authors | Year | Intellectual Capital as a synonym for: |
| Stewart |
1991 |
Intangible Assets. |
| Jonson |
nineteen ninety six |
Goodwill. |
| Annie Brooking |
nineteen ninety six |
Intangible Assets. |
| Leif Edvinsson and Sullivan |
nineteen ninety six |
Knowledge, Technologies, Designs, Processes. |
| Leif Edvinsson and Michael Malone |
1997 |
Attitudes, Capacity, Relationships |
| Bradley |
1997 |
Ability to transform Knowledge |
| SveibyRoss and RossRoss et alStewart |
1997 1997 2001 1998 |
Knowledge |
| Malhotra |
2000 |
Intangible Assets |
| Nevado Peña and López RuizBatista Canino, Melián González and Sánchez Medina |
2002 2002 |
Intangible Assets, Innovation Capacity, Products, Services, Customer Relations |
Despite being a new term Intellectual Capital, it is of great interest to various authors in the world. It is a language that frames the guidelines of thought, encompasses relationships with customers and partners, innovative efforts, the infrastructure of the company and the knowledge and expertise of the members of the organization. Within an organization or company, intellectual capital is the intellectual knowledge of that organization, the intangible information (that is not visible, and therefore is not collected anywhere) that it possesses and that can produce value.
