The invisible edge
Fast-growing companies spend more than slower companies on intangible assets such as brand, skills, and knowledge. Are you investing enough in the assets you can’t see?
“Intangible assets . . . are invaluable to the firm’s competitive power. In fact, these invisible assets are often a firm’s only real source of competitive edge that can be sustained over time.”
—Hiroyuki Itami
Which ones matter
The intangibles that matter most.
Innovation | Data | Human | Brand
Top growers are more than twice as likely as low growers to use data as the basis for decisions; to quickly build on successes and abandon failures by closely measuring the impact of R&D and design; and to invest in disruptive innovation, including disrupting their own business models proactively.
Multiples
The highest growth occurs when companies invest in different categories of intangibles simultaneously.
Growing invisibly
Making the most of intangible assets requires distinctive capabilities—and an agile, test-and-learn organizational culture.
- Keep learning
- Keep executing
- Keep personalizing
- Keep visible
Deliver competitiveness and growth.