Regarding the accounting standards, those responsible for businesses and those who seek to invest in them, manifest new and growing needs for information related to the value of intangible assets, both in terms of knowledge and those inherent to the relationship. of the organization with its environment and the efficient use of its operational structure.
introduction
It is necessary to raise new information needs directly related to Intellectual Capital (1) that, once these assets are identified, facilitate their measurement and control.
Generally, the true value of a company does not match what its balance sheets and accounting records say. This happens because the accounting only reflects some of the assets and is completely unknown to others.
It is easy, then, to determine a mathematical equation:
VR = VL + VNR
Where:
VR = real value of the company
VL = book value
VNR = value not recorded by the books
In this case, the question to be solved is the value of the assets that are not recorded in the accounting and that are usually called "goodwill", "market value added", "company knowledge", "intellectual capital", etc..
The business concern, based on the recognition of the value they represent, is to know the results of their management and the accounting records contribute little and nothing as an information medium. The problem to be solved is that you know what to do, but the difficulty lies in how to do it.
Since the seventies and with much more force, from the last five years of the last century, control systems have emerged that, in their integration process, are not content with developing financial indicators, but advance on elements of the company that do not they are taken into account by traditional accounting.
These systems, known generally as Dashboard, Balanced Scorecard, BSC (2), etc., seek to incorporate assets not recognized in accounting, among which are those relating to intellectual capital..
Starting from the premise that: "what is not measured is not managed" (3) and taking into account the place that intangible assets are occupying in business management, the concern of the managers of the organizations is understandable, as they did Reference paragraphs above, in having useful information regarding this key factor for business success.
Of the different ways in which the study of these assets can be approached with the intention of obtaining mechanics for their better management and control, I have decided to follow those emanating from the INTELAC model of Euroforum (4) that, apart from being clear and precise, they are widely distributed.
According to this criterion, Intellectual Capital is made up of Human Capital, Relational Capital and Structural Capital, and I refer to them in the sections that continue.
II. Human capital
Human Capital is the basis that gives rise to the other two types of Intellectual Capital. It understands the knowledge, competence, values and innovative potential of individuals within the organization and their ability to learn.
Its distinctive feature is that companies cannot buy it, only hire it for a certain time and use it in that period.
For this reason, business action aimed at attracting, developing and trying to retain it, as well as making performance management work, tending to measure and control it as efficiently and effectively as possible, is extremely important.
Then, the analysis and performance functions of the individuals that make up the Human Capital of an organization becomes a sensitive and valuable tool to determine the value of these intangible assets and, through comparison over time, analyze the results of business management and project future evolution trends.
Among the elements that must be considered in this process of giving a greater degree of comprehensive formalism to the study and measurement of human capital, are:
- How the staff of an organization is made up, with a rating that indicates which areas are well covered and which are not. Performance analysis carried out with professional responsibility and with continuity over time. Studies that measure the degree of staff satisfaction. Training programs that include analysis of the results achieved, etc.
Developing this function in the most objective way possible and making serious determinations, maintaining uniform evaluation criteria, are essential requirements to give it reliability and recognition internally and outside the organization.
III. Relational capital
Relational Capital is understood to be the group of intangible assets that measures the relationship that an entity has with its customers, its distribution channels, suppliers, competitors, alliances, etc. It is the set of interactions that the organization maintains with its external environment.
The value of this intangible is important for companies that have a very strong communication with the outside of the organization. In this way, they tend to be for those who have a very significant dependence on their suppliers, for those who compete in aggressive markets, for those who rely on alliances and competition strategies, etc.
It is common that, when it comes to relationship marketing, it is linked directly to the different loyalty programs that organizations start up with the aim of retaining their customers. This tool, very useful in economic activity, is one of the many that make up the development of Relational Capital.
Benchmarking techniques represent an ideal instrument to improve business efficiency and can also be one of the components of this intangible, as are CRM and IRM (5)
The use of the Internet as a way to develop the Relational Capital of organizations, creating a point of view about users and consumers, is being used by the different techniques of e-Marketing, among which are those of e-CRM with tools as useful as telemarketing, call centers, database analysis, chat rooms, segmentation algorithms, etc.
These examples are some of the range of actions that can make up the Relational Capital of organizations and that allow them, if used correctly, to establish the levels of differentiation that the market requires.
Logically, it is up to its managers to determine which of these elements are in a position to generate present and / or future value, to put the emphasis of management on them, looking for a way to record and control them.
Like all intangibles, it presents serious difficulties for its measurement. Giving them the value closest to the real one, without significant over or undervaluation, is the professional challenge of providing organizations with the greatest amount of useful information for control and decision making and to get closer to their market value.
IV. Structural capital
Continuing with the analysis of the Intangible Assets from the Knowledge of the Company and that generate value for the organization, I will deal with the so-called Structural Capital.
This asset, not considered by traditional accounting when determining the assets of economic entities, is usually significant, not only because of what was invested in its realization, but also because of its strategic use.
Thus, communication and information systems, the use of available technology, labor manuals and procedures, organizational charts and management and control systems, databases and other software developed within the company (not that purchased from a company). supplier, usually called “canned”) constitute investments made by the organization that, generally, are not incorporated into the recordable assets of the company (It is generally treated as an expense for the year or, in the best of cases, as an expense deferred that affects more than one fiscal year).
Care must be taken when carrying out an added value analysis of these items, because they may be partially registered, together with the computer and communications equipment, with the software purchased or developed "to measure" by a third party, who invoiced it to the company and this incorporated it as a use good, etc.
The particularity and differentiating element that Structural Capital has as a component of Intellectual Capital is its permanence in the organization when its creators and those who use it on a daily basis leave it.
This importance on people is of great importance. When their management and, above all, the control exercised over these assets is analyzed, it will be possible to appreciate if they have been given enough time and dedication to protect them. The barriers that are placed for systems, procedures, databases, prototypes in development, etc. They will have to be sufficiently effective to prevent access to this information by more than duly justified people and that they do not end up in the hands of the competition or of those who may make an illegitimate use of it and in this way affect the interests of the company. organization.
It is also important to have its control so that, when a regular user retires, the replacement can be incorporated without disturbing the normal operational function. Although there are cases in the different positions of the companies, it is very common for them to occur in the systems and accounting areas, where there are sensitive positions in which it is necessary to have a replacement figure planned so that the organization can continue to function without alterations.
For this reason, the management that manages to keep them undamaged and in full use of their efficiencies and efficiencies, when their creators or usual operators retire, is valued, and this is a direct and non-delegable responsibility of the management of the organizations.
As in the case of other intangibles, it is difficult to determine their value and, in this case, their useful life (systems become obsolete, methods are replaced by new technologies, research and development are in constant motion)
V. Conclusions
The registration, measurement and control of Intellectual Capital are becoming key elements to know the organization from both an external and internal perspective. Obtaining useful information about the structure of these intangible assets and their ability to generate value should be part of the skills that those responsible for their management have to develop to generate the distinctive characteristics of the entity.
Little by little, organizations are becoming aware of the value that their Intellectual Capital represents and how much they depend on it in the search for results.
As a consequence of being denied for so long by traditional accounting, it is difficult to determine rules that allow its measurement, recording and subsequent control and that these rules are solid, forceful, reliable and recognized by professionals and entrepreneurs.
In recent years, different measurement models have been developed that represent a significant contribution to determine the value of these intangibles (6)
These models, correctly applied, allow us to get closer to the real value of intangibles and it corresponds to be used by different organizations, thus heading down the path that will lead them to obtain useful information, both for internal use and to inform third parties..
The evolution of the indicators and the reliability that is achieved in the future will transform them into a habitual tool for business use and absolute acceptance in the professional environment, which can be progressively incorporated into those already used, improving the quality and use of the methods. management control. For this, the Balanced Scorecard or any other Dashboard system is used, which are ideal for using non-financial indicators.
Giving them the necessary push and support so that the intangible assets originated in Intellectual Capital are increasingly reliable and continuously increasing the degree of acceptance by the management of organizations, is the way forward for the rigorous accounting sciences to accept them. and integrate them to your records and to the determination of the financial statements and thus narrow the gap between the market value and the book value of the assets.
I understand that Structural Capital is the one that will adapt the fastest and will be recognized in the accounting treatment (in fact, many of these assets already have an incorporation, even if it is partial) because they are the best aimed at achieving the scientific rigor that is needed for their valuation, recording and accounting exposure.
The success achieved with this management will open the way for the rest of the components of Intellectual Capital to be recognized and have their place in the records and in the financial statements. In this way, the gap between the book value and the market value of the assets will be closed in a firm and sustained manner, allowing to unify under the same system and the same database all the necessary information to, internally, have the integral control of the organizations and of these towards the outside, show a much more complete patrimonial situation and close to its market value.
Achieving these objectives is an obligation for managers and professionals responsible for these entities, to significantly increase the value of their management
SAW. Bibliography
Management Magazine - March-April 2000 - "The value of knowledge" - Karl E. Sveiby.
Mercado Magazine - “Circles of Knowledge” - “The challenge of conserving talent”.
Ibero-American Knowledge Foundation - Barcelona - Spain. "The Intellectual Capital" - Juan Carlos Gómez López "Intellect Model - Measurement of Intellectual Capital" - Euroforum 1998
Foundation for the Development of the Human Resources Function - FUNDIPE - "Scorecard and indicators for people management"
Capital Humano Magazine Nº 134 - 2000 - “The measurement of Human Resources practices” - Carlos Sánchez-Runde
Expo Management - Madrid - May 2003 - “Balanced Scorecard: its function” - Robert Kaplan
Champagnat University - Mendoza - Argentina. "Intangible and Unique Assets" - Joaquín García - Tapial Aguirre "Human Capital and Business Strategies" - Matías Sales
Dashboard Club. "Balanced Scorecard: basis for diagnosing the financial situation of the company", "In the era of the Dashboard, where is the Human Resources function heading?" - Alvaro Reynoso
Harvard Business Review Latin America. - “Capital vs. Talent: the battle that is transforming business ”- Roger L Martin and Mihnea C. Moldoveanu
University of Zaragoza - Spain. "Intangible assets in accounting: measurement and valuation" - Carlos Serrano and Fernando Chaparro, "Accounting treatment of intangible assets at the IASC and the ASB - Monserrat Sierra Fernández
"How technologies help in the area of human capital management" - Improven Consultores.
Human being and work - Argentina - "How to implement a knowledge management program" - José María Saracho
"Knowledge management in world-class organizations" - Rodolfo González - Management Today Magazine -
Public Accounting of the Nation - Peru. "Measurement of intangibles: a great challenge for accounting" CPC. Oscar Pajuelo Ramirez
____________
(1) Intellectual Capital makes up the group of intangible assets of an organization that, despite not being reflected in traditional accounting statements, generates value today or may do so in the future (Euroforum, 1999) It is formed by Human Capital, Relational and the Structural.
(2) BSC is the acronym for Balanced Scorecard which is a comprehensive control system designed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton of Harvard Business School. See at www.bscol.com
(3) Carlos Sánchez-Runde - "The measurement of Human Resources Practices" - Capital Humano Magazine - June 2000.
(4) See www.euroforum.es
(5) Intensive Relationship Marketing - Intensive Relationship Marketing
(6) See the Knowledge Management website at www.gestiondelconocimiento.com for the development of different models for measuring intangible assets.
