A proposed model for measuring intellectual assets using the Balanced Scorecard

Abstract

The research aims to quantitatively measure the value of intellectual assets and disclose them in the company's general budget. The research was applied to the Diyala General Company for Electrical Industries to verify the existence of intellectual assets held by researchers. However, these assets were not properly exploited. The research addressed the company's failure to take a research sample to measure and disclose these assets in the general budget, and the difficulty of integrating them into the accounting measurement process, given that traditional accounting systems focus on measuring only physical assets.

These assets must be disclosed in the general budget, which contributes to providing the necessary information for strategic performance after integrating intellectual assets into the measurement process with physical assets recognized according to accounting concepts. This hypothesis was proven, and a set of conclusions were reached, the most important of which are: the traditional general budget is far from reflecting the true value of the company. It is merely a snapshot of past activity and only shows the company's historical operations, while revealing the value of intellectual assets therein would reveal the true value of the company. Furthermore, the intellectual capabilities of company employees depend not only on academic qualifications but also on the skills and experience acquired during their time in this field.

The study also produced a set of recommendations, including: Company management must recognize that not all employees are alike, but rather their values vary according to their ability to create and define the company's future. They must reward outstanding employees so that they possess the ability to innovate and create to achieve a competitive advantage. They must also pay greater attention to human capital, including skills and experience, and develop their expertise and competencies through training courses held both inside and outside the country.