Increasingly we have to think about the value of the intangible assets which are not seen in the balance sheet. Although they are not visible, researchers and businesspeople have been discovering intangible assets’ great value for driving profit for companies. Intangible assets are also called intellectual capital and are often broken down into human capital, structural capital, relationship capital and strategic capital. Obviously brand images and employees’ know-how are very important but it is difficult to measure. I think that’s why pretty much almost all employers have been ignoring intangible assets’ value. I think there is also another reason why people are not aware of intangible assets’ value. The answer is the lack of education about intangible assets.
College students in the U.S. are always busy studying many things like economics, finance, sociology, chemistry, biology and so on. But education institutions in the U.S. do not include study of intangible assets because there are no professors or colleges with the experience or knowledge to teach and understand about this area. Personally I suggest that colleges should hire management consultants as professors to teach intangible assets. I found out through researching the membership of Smarter-Companies that there are actually many consultants who are already aware of the importance of intangible assets in the global economy. They are very experienced through business and management consulting and more importantly they understand how critical intangible assets are to the success of companies and economies. I think they are experienced enough to tell and teach what is happening about intangible assets in the world clearly. I believe that “Intangible Assets 101” or a Management Consulting Class presented by real consultants would definitely be interesting for students.
Furthermore, cooperation between colleges and consulting companies could drive profit for both of them. Providing unique and popular courses for students could enhance the reputation of a college. And companies would have the opportunity to hire some brilliant students from their class in the end of year. Students can also think about how their study is going to connect and be useful for their future jobs through studying actual business cases in school. Although I don’t think it has ever happened in the field of intangibles, it might be the time to change the offerings of education institutions. Intangible assets are changing business dramatically and it’s time for the colleges to catch up.
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