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Collaboration as an Intangible Asset

Harvard Business Review

So it is with most breakthrough innovations and banner financial years. Interestingly, intangible assets are all the rage these days on Wall Street. There is no line on the balance sheet for "ability to innovate" or "skill at managing brand." If ego and time allow, the list can be quite long.

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What’s Driving Superstar Companies, Industries, and Cities

Harvard Business Review

They come from all regions and sectors and include global banks and manufacturing companies, long-standing Western consumer brands, and fast-growing U.S. Acquisitions, bold investment in intangible assets, and attracting talent can ultimately make the difference. times more economic loss today than 20 years ago.

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A Novel Idea for Putting Sidelined Cash to Work

Harvard Business Review

To drive shareholder value and be a catalyst for economic recovery, our nation's largest companies must deploy their assets in a productive manner, either internally for innovation and organic growth, or externally for corporate venture capital investments, research partnerships, joint ventures and alliances, or acquisitions.

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The Answer to Short-Termism Isn’t Asking Investors to Be Patient

Harvard Business Review

Too many companies prioritize quarterly earnings over long-term innovation, human capital investment, and brand development, and many people believe short-term shareholders are to blame. Gathering information on a firm’s intangible assets is costly, and so not worth doing if you own only a tiny bit of stock in a company.

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Startups Could Fundamentally Change the Way Big Investors Operate

Harvard Business Review

Innovation has the potential to transform the investment industry. Yet the world’s largest funds are closed off from these innovations. Research we have collected in recent months shows that pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments expect imminent breakthrough innovations in investment technology.

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GDP Is a Wildly Flawed Measure for the Digital Age

Harvard Business Review

It struggles to account for today’s intangible assets—services, insights, and networks. Everyone carries a mobile phone with access to real-time banking, retail, music, and global communications in their pocket. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), our core measure of prosperity, was developed during the industrial age.

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