Measurement of Intellectual Capital in a Company

The article raises the issue of intellectual capital. Owing to the fact that this is a relatively new notion, among economists and practitioners of management there is no consistency with regard to the essence and the role of this capital in an organization. It therefore contributes to formation of discrepancies in perception and measurement of its effectiveness. The article presents the best known definitions, classifications and methods of evaluation of intellectual capital. The attention was focused on synthetic and analytical methods which are most often applied when measuring effectiveness of company's intellectual capital. Intellectual capital, identified with human capital, human resources, intellectual property, intellectual assets, or knowledge resources, in the age of knowledge-based economy plays a crucial role almost in each organization. Such a situation makes a credible reflection of its value and effectiveness a priority in the process of increasing the competitive advantage of a company. Clearly, it is difficult to plan, implement and control the process within which there are elements the value of which has not been fully reflected in the structure of resources of an organization. According to the conducted literature review of measurement methods of intellectual capital effectiveness, it seems that the evaluation process of values of intangible resources is necessary in a company's strategy implementation. However, it should be pointed out that in spite of undertaken attempts, still there is no a synthetic indicator which would fully reflect the value of the most precious resource of a 21st century organization, which is intellectual capital.