Immaterial resources (leadership, brand names, reputations, networks, technologies, innovation, intellectual capital, flexibility, and so on) have achieved a fundamental role in determining the outcomes of competitive processes. Resources that are neither financial nor material in nature are increasingly found to be a source of profitability; it has been calculated that such resources account for more than half of the value of economic goods. What are immaterial resources, how are they created, how do they develop and, above all, how much are they worth? Determining the value of immaterial resources is a question of synthesis, into which flows all relevant knowledge accumulated over the years. This useful book adopts a wide-ranging analytical perspective that draws from different fields such as accounting, finance, business administration and corporate strategies, in order to accomplish two goals: shape a theory of immaterial resources within general business economics theory and identify a corresponding approach to evaluation.

Contents: Introduction - 1. Immaterial Resources in a Production Business - 2. Immaterial Resources in the Generation of Competitive Advantage and Economic Profit - 3. Immaterial Resources and Business Performances - 4. Analysis, Classification, and Evaluation Criteria for Immaterial Resources in a Production Business - 5. The Indirect Method for the Determination of Goodwill- 6. Profitability and Goodwill - 7. The Breakdown of Goodwill - 8. Identification, Classification, and Evaluation of Autonomous Immaterial Goods - 9. Analysis and Strategic Evaluation of Immaterial Resources - 10. A Systematic Process for Accounting for Immaterial Resources for Control and Communication Purposes

Andrea Beretta Zanoni teaches Business Economics at the University of Milan.