icounts - use measures that matter!

Smarter-Companies Inc.

Use measures that matter!


Our cause?

Unleash the power of our collective minds

(our intangible capital) to collaborate, create, innovate …and fuel a new era of prosperity


Our strategy?

Empower individuals and organizations with tools that help them model and measure value

creation through intangible capital


What is ICountsTM?

• ICounts Index Is intangible capital important to your organization?

• ICounts InventoryWhat are the key intangibles driving your success?

• ICounts VisualizationsHow do intangibles support the success of your business?

• ICounts GraphHow do your intangibles compare with those of your peers?

It is a toolset offered by Smarter-Companies for consultants and organizations to be able to answer key questions:


Why use ICountsTM?

• 80% of the value of the average business today is intangible

• Yet few companies manage intangibles in a systematic way

• This leads to stalled innovation, reputational risk, poor performance, inaccurate valuations

• These simple exercises to identify, model and measure intangible capital unleash the power and value of organizations’ knowledge and networks


Key ICountsTM FAQ’s

• Where did the tools come from?They were developed over the last decade through the consulting work of Mary Adams, co-author of Intangible Capital

• Are they available for broad use?Yes, they are offered as open source methodologies (see terms on the next page)

• Can I use the name ICountsTM?The name is licensed by Smarter-Companies to firms who complete our training programs


Terms of UseWe make the ICounts Index, Inventory, Map and

Canvas methodologies available under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license, which allows for both personal and

commercial derivative works, as long as they credit Smarter-Companies and release their

designs under the same license. If you use these tools, we ask that you share your experience and suggested changes with

our community at www.smarter-companies.com

http://www.smarter-companies.com/


ICounts™ Index

The Index is an open source methodology that helps you quickly illustrate the relative importance of intangibles to your own or a client’s business


ICounts™ Index

Tangible Capital: 0-5 Intangible Capital 0-5

Inventory ___ People ___

Equipment ___ Processes ___

Buildings ___ Relationships ___

Land ___ Strategy ___

Total ___ Total ___

Rank according to importance for the future of the firm (5 is highest):

Index Calculation: intangibles/(intangibles+tangibles)


ICounts™ Inventory

The Inventory is an open source methodology for identifying the core intangible capital of an organization


Use sticky notes to record the answers to the inventory questions on the next page…

ICounts™ Inventory


ICounts™ Inventory1. What is your brand? (relationship capital)2. Who are your clients? (relationship capital)3. What do you do to create value for them?

(strategic capital)4. What are the key processes and knowledge

that support the model? (structural capital)5. Who are the key partners that support the

model? (relationship capital)6. What are the key competencies your people

need to support the model? (human capital)7. What are the key elements of the culture you

need to support the model? (strategic capital)


ICounts™ Visualizations

The open source ICounts Visualization tools—the Map and the Canvas—are helpful for making sense of the lists of assets in your ICounts Inventory


ICounts™ Map


Stakeholders

Employees

Processes,Knowledge,

Data, IP

Partners

CustomersValue/Purpose

Stakeholders

Customers

ICounts™ Map (digital)


ICounts™ Canvas

Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License, adapted by Smarter-Companies from www.businessmodelgeneration.com

PEERS 7 -Which organizations do you consider to be your peers?

BRAND(S) START HERE: (numbers correspond to ICounts Inventory Questions) 1-What is your brand?

CUSTOMERS 2a-Who are your paying customers?

VALUE PROPOSITION 3a-What do you do to create value for your customers and stakeholders? BUSINESS MODEL 3b-How do you get paid for the value you create?

PROCESSES 4a-What are the key processes that support your value creation?

PRODUCTION PARTNERS 5b-Who are the key partners who support your value creation?

CHANNEL PARTNERS 5a-Who are the key partners who support your value delivery?

KNOWLEDGE/IP 4b-What are the key knowledge, data or IP needed to support your value creation?

COMPETENCIES 6-What are the core competencies your people need to support your value creation?

STAKEHOLDERS 2a-Who are your non-paying customers and/or key stakeholders?

TANGIBLE ASSETS 4c-What are key tangible assets needed to support your value creation?

CULTURE 7-What are the key elements of the culture your organization needs to support the system?

Revenue Profits Op Costs + Tangible + Intangible Capital Expenditures

Reputation and Valuation

PEERS

BRAND(S) CUSTOMERS

VALUE PROPOSITION BUSINESS MODEL

PROCESSES

PRODUCTION PARTNERS

CHANNEL PARTNERS

KNOWLEDGE/IP

COMPETENCIES

STAKEHOLDERS

TANGIBLE ASSETS

CULTURE

Revenue Profits Op Costs + Tangible + Intangible Capital Expenditures

Reputation and Valuation


ICounts™ Canvas

A blank copy of this tool is available in a Word doc at

www.smarter-companies.com

Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License, adapted by Smarter-Companies from www.businessmodelgeneration.com


ICounts™ Graphs

The ICounts Graphs Report is a proprietary tool used to measure the strength of the intangible capital drivers of corporate performance and value, including those identified in the ICounts Inventory process. This tool was created by Smarter-Companies and is available for use by our licensed partners.

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

HumanCapital

StructuralCapital

RelationshipCapital

StrategicCapital

Peer average

ICounts Graphs – three views…

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

Brand consistency Strong technologySales processes Growing marketExternal partnership development Project management offeringProject management processes Co-innovation projectsManagement depth

Key risks to current business Key opportunities for the future

Company average


For more information on ICounts or our ICountant training programs, please visit www.smarter-companies.com

or contact Mary Adams at 781-729-9650 or

[email protected]

http://www.smarter-companies.com/

icounts - use measures that matter!

Business

open source

icounts graphs

key partners

intangible

icounts inventory

icounts index

icounts visualizations

relationship