Accountants’ dilemma
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. Probably, this much acclaimed book was Robert Pirsig's biggest contribution to society.

Editorial -- Unlock all assets
It is high time analysts and shareholders begin looking at balance sheets from a new perspective. Experts agree that though balance sheets give out a lot of information, they also conceal a lot at the same time.

Skandia’s unique IC-index
Skandia, a Swedish insurance company, is one among the first in the world to value its intellectual assets. The company suggests that intellectual capital can best be managed by breaking down the market value of a company into its constituent elements such as financial capital and intellectual capital.

Valuing corporate grey matter
Anybody who has read Zen and the art of motor cycle maintenance will agree that there is a lot common between valuation experts measuring knowledge and Phaedrus, a character in the book, measuring quality.

Suggestions -- David Scheffman and W Robert Thompson
David Scheffman and W Robert Thompson give some suggestions on Intellectual capital. These suggestions appeared in kmmag.com.

Knowledge capital arrives
Imagine the following scene. The year: 2020. The place: anywhere in India. Late at night a young man clad in a T-shirt and jeans exits the building which houses a technology-driven major. A twenty-something, he is one of the many software engineers working for the company.

Monopolies difficult in some industries
A PGDM from IIM Calcutta, Vishal Thapliyal currently works in the corporate finance and investment banking (CF&IB) practice of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). Vishal spoke to Pravin Palande of FE-Thinktank on intellectual capital. Excerpts:

Discounting future cash flows
A chartered accountant by qualification, Sanjiv Agrawal is the head, valuation and allied services, Ernst & Young. He speaks with Pravin Palande of FE-Thinktank on intellectual capital and other related issues.

Defining intellectual capital
Calculating intellectual capital could be a tricky proposition. What should be the formula for its calculation? Lev Baruch has an answer.

A controversial issue
Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies’ senior vice president (finance and administration) and CFO, M D Pai shares his views on the valuation of intellectual assets with Pravin Palande of FE-Think Tank. Excerpts:

Infosys values intangibles
Skeptics have always wondered whether at the current market price of Rs 9,962.95 (face value: Rs 5) the Infosys stock has been over valued by the market. By all conventional measures, the stock quote appears very unrealistic.