Faculty
Patricia Plackett

Course Coordinator
Jan Mouritsen

Students should have had prior courses in one or more of the following: economics, management, strategy, marketing, finance, international business, or human resource management.

Why was Lou Gerstner so successful at transformational leadership when he was at the helm of IBM while many other leaders have failed miserably? Why was Carly Fiorina forced out of her CEO position at HP, yet Steve Jobs was able to make a successful return to Apple after being squeezed out 11 years earlier?

The answer, in part, lies in the role of intangibles. In the case of companies, intangible assets – factors not normally listed in financial statements that help companies to achieve their full potential, e.g., brands, leadership and processes – are an increasing part of market capitalization. In the case of individuals, there are many examples in which their intangible assets have contributed significantly to successful outcomes. In fact, during interviews some recruiters try to uncover evidence of specific intangible traits of potential value to organizations. However, despite the rising significance of intangibles, we still do not have a comprehensive understanding of how they actually function as value-drivers. As a consequence, we do not manage them as well as we might in order to create value.

This course will explore a range of managerial contexts in which individuals make choices about which intangibles to invest in and whether to increase, decrease, or terminate these investments over time. Selected cases and examples will be examined to identify specific ways in which intangible resources can help in resolving problems and in responding to opportunities. For example, we will study the implications of intangibles for leadership and communication in the face of moral adversity, for relationship management under the constraints posed by virtual teams and for cross-cultural business operations in which mindsets are dramatically different. Empirical evidence confirms that intangibles are fundamentally changing the way in which organizations are managed. One explanation offered is the capacity of intangibles to facilitate greater effectiveness in creativity and innovation, knowledge leveraging and enhanced learning through, for example, heightened commitment and involvement, as well as greater flexibility and adaptability, of employees. Various theoretical lenses will be introduced to reveal features of intangibles that would otherwise remain invisible.

Classes will include mini-lectures, group case analyses, and group discussions with guest speakers to lead discussions on several key themes. Students will be encouraged to actively share their viewpoints by drawing on their own experiences and information from other courses as well as the materials for this course. The quality of the sessions will be monitored through feedback at the conclusion of each session.

The aim of this course is to allow students to gain exposure to, and build expertise in, developing and deploying intangible resources to create value at the personal level. Students can expect to learn the basic concepts and theories as well as to gain insights about best practices in the real world.

At the end of the course the student should be able to manage competently the following objectives:

Learning Objective 1: To explain clearly how intangible resources can be used to create value by drawing on a wide range of international examples. [Understand empirical work on the subject]

Learning Objective 2: To discuss knowledgably all key concepts, theories, models and frameworks that can be used in the analysis of intangible resources. [Understand theoretical foundations to the subject]

Learning Objective 3: To design and implement practical strategies for creating value through investments in intangible resources based on rigorous and systematic analysis of a variety of real-world cases. [Understand practical approaches to strategy design and implementation related to the subject]

To obtain a score of 12 in this course a student must master the three learning objectives to an exceptional level with lower scores awarded in accordance

Individual oral examination with prior preparation.

Students at the HA programme are able to write their bachelor project in the course: Yes

The course readings will include selected papers and cases as well as some short articles from the business press on selected issues.

DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) (2001), Creating value from your intangible assets: Unlocking your true potential.

Lev, Baruch (2001), Intangibles: Management, measurement and reporting. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, Chapter 1 – What, Why, and Who? and Chapter 2 - The Economics of Intangibles.

Wearing, Robert (2005), Cases in corporate governance, London: Sage Publications. Chapter 7 – Enron and Chapter 8 – Parmalat.

Ulrich, Dave and Smallwood, Norm (2005), “HR’s new ROI: Return on intangibles,” Human Resource Management, Summer, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 137-142.

Marr, Bernard, Schiuma, Giovanni and Neely, Andy (2004), “The dynamics of value-creation: Mapping your intellectual performance drivers,” Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 312-325.

Tseng, Chun-Yao and Goo, Yeong-Jia James (2005), “Intellectual capital and corporate value in an emerging economy: Empirical study of Taiwanese manufacturers,” R&D Management, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 187-201.

Millar, Carla C.J.M. and Choi, Chong Ju (2003) Advertising and knowledge intermediaries: Managing the ethical challenges of intangibles, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 48, pp. 267-277.

Case studies:

Managing virtual teams. [Darden Business Publishing, University of Virginia, 2009]

Lessons from breakthrough strategic moves over the last century [INSEAD & Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, 2009]

A confrontation of mindsets: French retailers operating in Poland. [The CASE Association, 2009]

VeeV on the rocks? [Harvard Business School, 2009]