How to Innovate Management Through Intellectual Capital Statements ‑ Lessons Learned From the First Implementations in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract: Recent initiatives have shown that it is time to think about new ways of managing companies, particularly in emerging economies. Mertins et al (2012), points out that, “In the rapidly emerging Brazilian economy, intangible assets become a key success factor for sustainable growth”. As experiences in the fast moving city and state of Rio de Janeiro have shown, the development of systematic management procedures for these intangible assets is especially valuable for fast growing small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to serve as a solid backbone for an increasingly knowledge‑based economy. Another initiative described by Sequeira et al (2012) highlights that Brazil has been evolving into a knowledge society dealing with political changes, globalization, new technologies, and new global competitors, such as China. The need to enhance companies´ and, by extension, countries´ competitiveness has grown rapidly. It is, therefore, evident that organisations and particularly government policies need to redress some critical competitiveness issues, most notably the establishment of the Competitive Intelligence System as a strategic tool. Without such tool, organisations and the country will find it difficult to position themselves within the global marketplace. Taking into account the main conclusions of the two initiatives described above, and the unique circumstances of organically grown organizations in the Brazilian business environment, this paper discusses the challenge of integrating the Intellectual Capital Statement ‑ ICS into a comprehensive strategic change process. In order to promote sustainable business development in an emerging economy, the ICS has to be used to establish a continuous improvement cycle in the individual company, focusing on practical actions for maintaining and developing its intangible assets to ensure future competition capability.