Weightless Wealth: Find your real value in a future of intangible assets - Tapa dura

What is the value of your company's knowledge? Successful companies have gone soft; from tangible to intangible they're now weightless. But most managers still focus on tangible assets. Are you managing and measuring the right things? The drivers of tomorrow's wealth are brands, networks, knowledge, competencies, corporate culture, and leadership. You can't touch them, but these are the new critical assets - the weightless keys to your future wealth. The value of most of them is missing from the balance sheet. On average the market capitalization of companies quoted on the New York Stock Exchange is 2.5 times their book value. Weightless Wealth provides you with the practical tools to identify, assess and value these intangible assets, and helps you to leverage them to their full potential, creating a high-growth, high-performance company. Think about your company's most critical asset. Can you drop it on your foot? Would it hurt? Then you're probably valuing the wrong assets. In the new economy it is no longer capital and physical stock, that define your company's net worth or provide its competitive advantage.What gives a company its true value are the intangible assets: knowledge, relationships, culture, technology and innovation. The drivers of tomorrow's wealth are brands, networks, knowledge, competencies, corporate culture, and leadership. You can't touch them, but these are the new critical assets - the weightless keys to your future wealth. The challenge for business is to measure and manage them. But how do you ensure they are sufficient for future success? And how do you decide in which intangible to invest? Weightless Wealth introduces a practical methodology that unlocks the hidden value of intangible assets and helps direct your business to release its full potential. For the first time, there is a way to bridge the gap between your company's core competencies - its hidden value - and its future potential. It's time to assign your company's intangibles the monetary value and managerial attention they deserve."Andriessen, Frijlink and Tissen have highlighted that developing and maintaining a competitive advantage in today's marketplace does not only require superior knowledge of rudimentary fields such as finance, manufacturing and marketing, but foremost a vision to take company to a higher and different level. This applies to the Microsoft and Yahoos of the world, as well as to the G.E.s and Walmarts. The book is easy to read and will be helpful to any executive in coping with today's business challenges" Don H. Alexander, President Alexander & Associates, Inc. - a private investment company Member, International Advisory Board, Nyenrode University www.weightlesswealth.com

Daniel Andriessen is a Senior Manager in the Knowledge Management division at KPMG's Global Headquarters in Amsterdam Martine Frijlink is a Certified Public Accountant and a senior consultant within the KPMG strategy practice in The Netheriands Dr Rene Tissen is Managing Director in the Knowledge Management division at KPMG's Global Headquarters in Amsterdam and a Visiting Professor at Nijenrode University. He has held a number of executive positions in both Dutch industry and government.