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Now that you’ve
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In 1991, Hiroyuki Itami wrote the germinal book on intangible assets.
Invisible—
and invaluable
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?
The invisible edge
In this edition:
A quick briefing in five—
or a fifty-minute deeper dive
Which ones matter
The McKinsey Global Institute identified the intangibles that matter most.
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Growth game
Since then, economies have continued to dematerialize, and intangible assets have become ever more important to corporate growth.
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Multiples
The highest growth occurs when companies invest in different categories of intangibles simultaneously.
Responding to the great acceleration requires companies to experiment with and invest in new digital technologies.
Growing invisibly
Making the most of intangible assets requires distinctive capabilities—and an agile, test-and-learn organizational culture.
Mobilizing Invisible Assets
Harvard University Press
Dive deeper
Getting tangible about intangibles: The future of growth and productivity?
Discussion paper – McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Getting tangible about intangibles: The future of growth and productivity?
Discussion paper – McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Getting tangible about intangibles: The future of growth and productivity?
Discussion paper – McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Mobilizing Invisible Assets
Harvard University Press
Getting tangible about intangibles:
The future of growth and productivity?
Discussion paper – McKinsey Global Institute
Hiroyuki Itami, professor, Graduate School of Management of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science
—
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.”
“
—Naomi Bagdonas, lecturer in management, Stanford Graduate School of Business
In this new world of remote work, where we rarely see our colleagues in person—or from the waist down—research reveals that humor is one of the most powerful forces an organization has for building genuine connection, well-being, and intellectual safety among our colleagues.”
“
Low
growers
Top
growers
Low
growers
Top
growers
1.7
4.4
3
20
2.6×
6.7×
Median investment in intangibles as a share of revenue, 2019, %
Median growth, 2019, %
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.
Bosses consistently underestimate how their actions affect and will be interpreted
by others.
Top growers are 1.3 times more likely than low growers to have proprietary data, 1.8 times more likely to run analytics decisions in real time, and 2.0 times more likely to have flexible tech infrastructures—as they leverage the full power of intangibles through data and analytics.
Top growers are 2.6 times more likely than low growers to offer unique value propositions to retain top talent, twice as likely to define organization-wide performance measures, 1.7 times more likely to put in place talent-management processes to foster diversity, and 3.0 times more likely to make investment decisions holistically.
Top growers are 2.5 times more likely than low growers to regard personalization as the core part of the customer experience, and more than double the share of top growers continually allocate and reallocate marketing spending in real time—essential elements of leveraging brands effectively.
Innovation
Data
Human
Brand
Median growth of companies investing at top-quartile level, by number of intangible categories, 2019–20, %
Number of categories
0
1
2
3
4
5
4.0
4.0
5.0
7.0
6.5
10.0
2.5×
Keep learning
As intangibles continue to morph, companies must continue to question which ones will be most likely to scale, deliver competitiveness and growth, and generate synergies in other areas of the learning economy.
Keep executing
Innovations arise through ideas and creativity, but rigorous processes and decision making that are based on data ensure that disruptive ideas get implemented and built.
Keep personalizing
Making the most of brand capital means integrating personalized experiences into customer journeys, reallocating marketing spend in real time, and using data and analytics capabilities.
Keep visible
Consider establishing a control tower to monitor the skills the organization needs, identify the intellectual property required for competitive advantage, and find the most promising areas for innovation.
Getting tangible about intangibles: The future of growth and productivity?
Discussion paper – McKinsey Global Institute
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