The importance of intangibles. Lavaux Global take on the issue.

It is increasingly evident that today's competitive advantage has to be defended in the market for intangibles ... both legal intangibles (trade secrets, customer lists, copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc) as well as competitive intangibles (company's culture, talent, knowledge, know-how, collaboration activities, relationships, business methodologies, reputation etc).

It is estimated that by 2020 close to 90% of company's value will reside in intangibles, a sharp departure from a mere 32% in the late 80's.

Managing intangible assets in today's high velocity markets requires agile leaders and a culture of courageous conversations. These assets can not be bought but rather they need to be created in the process of adapting to the realities of the new knowledge economy.