Intellectual Capital

The value of a company or organization's employee knowledge, business training and any proprietary information that may provide the company with a competitive advantage. Intellectual capital is considered an asset, and can broadly be defined as the collection of all informational resources a company has at its disposal that can be used to drive profits, gain new customers, create new products, or otherwise improve the business.

Some of the subsets of intellectual capital include human capital, information capital, brand awareness and instructional capital.

Taobiz explains Intellectual Capital

Intellectual capital is a real business asset, although measuring it is a very subjective task. Companies spend millions annually training their employees in business-specific topics and otherwise paying for increased competence in their staff. This capital employed provides a return to the company, one that can contribute toward many years' worth of business value.

As technology and process improvements become more of a differentiating factor within modern companies, intellectual capital is likely to become an even stronger force in the marketplace.