Mergers and Acquisition

On the Importance of Managing Intangible Assets as Part of Corporate Strategy
Abstract: Given that a high number of companies return value to investors via acquisition rather than a public offering the development of intangible assets is the bait that sets up the acquisition. This paper discusses how companies can fast track to high valuation by strategic growth of certain intangible assets such as customer tribes, brands, and intellectual property, comparing those strategies to larger companies. It further describes a strategic planning methodology using four asset categories (Market, Infrastructure, Human Centred and Intellectual property) to describe the enterprise as it would be if it had achieved its strategic goals. This state is referred to as the “Dream”. The Dream is characterised by a set of affirmations describing the “health” of the enterprise’s assets. This is called a “Dream Ticket”. Keywords: Intellectual Capital, SMEs, IC methodology, strategic business planning

1. Introduction
Strategic planning can be described as the process of determining what a business should become and how it should go about achieving its goals whilst capitalising on its opportunities and addressing its challenges. For management teams this can be a real challenge, especially if the strategic goal is couched solely in terms of revenue. For SMEs this is likely to be the case as the number one priority may well be just to stay afloat in very difficult times. For small companies defining corporate strategy can be a challenge, especially where they have limited access to business mentors or consultants that can assist in facilitating the process, so the CEO typically sets the scene by stating where the company needs to be in one or more years time by way of a mission statement that encapsulates values, vision and purpose. As such it’s a “what we will do” type statement that may mean a lot to the management team that brainstormed it but hard for employees who did not

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