According to a Feb 8, 2,020 Economist article- “32% of firms in the S&P 500 of big American firms invest more in intangible assets than in physical ones”
The S&P 500 firms have 61% of their market value in assets in categories hardly imagined just a generation ago. Classic categories recognized by Accounting of goodwill (brand value) and R&D investments appear on many balance sheets but in the 21 Century managers now have to consider, plan, invest, and realize gains in intangible assets like customers and enterprise acquired data.
“New economy” companies have various methods of recognizing the intangible asset value of customers, goodwill, and trademarks reported in non-GAAP and GAAP methods. Global regulators are reviewing mergers and acquisitions with respect to the data-assets with some in the press referring to “data-opolies”.
The question for enterprise managers is: Who is responsible for getting a return on intangible data assets? Sales and marketing look for a return on revenue from customers. Marketing looks to improve and realize brand and trademark value. Should CIOs and enterprise IT managers be held responsible for realizing data value?
What do you think?
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