The Intangible Assets Monitor

A “Swedish Community of Practice” emerged during the mid 1980s in Sweden. The “community” today follows two tracks; one is Human Resource Costing & Accounting (HRCA) and the other is a nonfinancial measurement system for intangible assets based on a theory originally brought forward by a work group consisting of members from several Swedish knowledge companies, the so called “Konrad Group.” This article describes the development of the latter track. Inspired by McLuhan, it is suggested that individuals in organizations create external and internal structures to express themselves. Indicators can be created that monitor External Structure (Customers and Suppliers), Internal Structure (Organization) and People's Competence. The indicators can be incorporated into a management information system. Indicators that monitor renewal, efficiency and stability are preferred. A matrix framework, called “The Intangible Assets Monitor,” is suggested for presenting the indicators. A number of generic indicators are defined under each heading and suggestions for interpretation and examples of how Swedish companies use the indictors are cited.