Today, Athena Alliance is releasing a new Policy Brief Intellectual
Capital and Revitalizing Manufacturing which makes a number of
recommendations to directly incorporate intellectual capital into a
manufacturing strategy and best position the United States for
accelerated job, productivity, and economic growth in the coming years.
The Policy Brief takes as its starting point the White House paper
released last December --
A
Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing. The
Administration's Framework makes an excellent case that the federal
government has a strong role to play in reinvigorating this important
sector of the U.S. economy. It outlines the challenges facing
manufacturing while describing the opportunities in new product areas.
However, the ongoing transformation in manufacturing to a
knowledge-intensive activity will require attention to all the inputs to
the production process technology, worker skills, and organizational
structures. The Framework recognizes that the nature of the economy has
changed and implicitly accepts this basic premise. Intellectual capital,
such as patents from research and development as well as managerial
know-how, the document states, is a vital component in determining
costs, growth rates and the creation of new industries. But while
patents and managerial know-how are important components, a successful
manufacturing framework must embrace the full range of intellectual
capital and intangible assets.
The Policy Brief begin released today takes that extra step and provides
specific recommendations as to how to include intellectual capital and
intangible assets in the manufacturing framework. These include, among
other things, programs to explicitly include intangible assets and
intellectual capital management services and advice in MEP and SBA
programs, use of intangible assets as collateral in SBA loans, and
increased disclosure of intangible assets in company financial
statements and in bank lending portfolios.
Intellectual capital and intangible assets are widely recognized as key
drivers of economic value. The recommendations contained in the Policy
Brief will help manufacturing firms better realize that value.
I hope you find the paper of interest. As usual, this and all of our
previous publications can be found on our website at www.athenaalliance.org.
And don't forget our blog - The Intangible Economy at www.intangibleeconomy.org .
All the best,
Ken