Intellectual Capital Statement (ICS) as a method of measurement and management of knowledge assets

Abstract

The article describes empirical verification of an interesting model – IC Statement (ICS). ICS is an example of a method which emphasizes the European contribution into the developing trend of intellectual capital (IC) measure and evaluation, with particular attention paid to the SME sector (a strong presence of Scandinavian countries and the USA is noticeable here). ICS is presented here as a tool enabling us to manage and evaluate IC of a company and to demonstrate the dynamics of its changes. The article contains a case study of a company operating in the construction sector in Poland. It also provides a critical analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the model. Therefore it is worth considering whether the ICS model stands a chance of becoming a commonly accepted method of evaluating and measuring IC in small and medium enterprises (Polish experiences in this scope). The survey is practical, but it also offers the presentation of theoretical foundations concerning the concept of IC. Important part of this analysis is the definition of IC elements and their evaluation within the QQS approach (quality, quantity and systematic management) included in this article. The analysis of IC finishes with the presentation of the fields of intervention (IC management portfolio), a tool which is particularly useful for company managers. The presented results may be of interest to other companies, internal and external stakeholders seeking information on what IC is, what its elements are, how to identify particular categories of IC, how to measure it, how to present IC inside the company, how to manage it to increase company value, how to identify IC elements and competitive position in a particular company, where to seek information on size and quality of IC, how much the company depends on a particular element of IC.