Models and method for the risk assessment of an intellectual resource

The objective of the article is to show the impact of various categories of risk factors related to intellectual resources, i.e. the components of intellectual capital, on their safety and going concern. Following an analysis of the literature on this subject and the authors' own observations, an attempt was made to define three types of risk models related to intellectual assets. A substantial part of the study was devoted to the methodology of risk assessment of the intellectual resource. The presented approach considers various categories of risk factors, resulting from both the architecture of the intellectual resource as well as other elements used in the processes and areas of intellectual capital management. The models outlined in this article could be the starting point for developing the methodology of risk assessment of the intellectual assets and appropriate policies of an organization, e.g. its information security, risks or quality, which may in turn constitute input values for developing the risk management system related to the intellectual capital of such organization. Key-Words: Risk, Intellectual Resources, Intellectual Assets, Information Security, Introduction It is currently an indisputable and common belief that the proper use of intellectual assets of a company as well as creativity and innovativeness of its staff may lead to stable and competitive activities of such company and contribute to economic success. The condition, which is not always fully appreciated, but which determines the whole process of creating and protecting innovative activities of people, is to establish an appropriate strategy for the intellectual property management and risk management system related to the company's intellectual resources. In the absence of efficient framework for the protection of intellectual property rights, both innovativeness and creativity are hampered and the number of investments drops. This phenomenon has contributed to the writing of this article, which includes elements of the risk management process in terms of quality and security of intellectual assets in the company. Experience shows that the costs resulting from not being familiar with the topic (or even being an ignoramus) may be substantial. On the other hand, the benefits of applying the methodology for the risk management of intellectual assets and intellectual property increase, since intangible assets considered the profit generating factors grow in significance. Therefore, the companies are forced to look for new paradigms of risk management [1], which shall concentrate more on intangible assets. 1. The concept of an intellectual resource of the organization The concept of the intellectual resource is closely related to the idea of intellectual capital. Review of the body of literature allows to state that the intellectual capital is the property emerging on the basis of knowledge. It constitutes the sum of many intangible assets, which shape the market value of a company and which are often referred to as the knowledge capital or intellectual matter. Particular elements that create the intellectual capital are shown in table 1. Table 1. Elements of intellectual capital Human capital Client capital (relationship) – know-how – skills – education – professional qualifications – experience – professional predispositions – resourcefulness, enthusiasm – innovativeness – capability, motivation – trademark – clients – customer loyalty – business name – distribution channels – collaboration with other companies – concession contracts – beneficial contracts – franchising contracts Organizational (structural) capital Intellectual property: – patents and copyrights Infrastructural assets: – philosophy of WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on COMMUNICATIONS Maciej Kiedrowicz, Jerzy Stanik E-ISSN: 2224-2864 149 Volume 16, 2017 – rights to designs – trade secret – brand name – distinctive services management – organizational culture – management processes – information system – financial relations Source: own elaboration. Human capital and organizational capital operate together to create the client's capital (Table1). At the heart of all these intellectual capital elements, which overlap, there are intellectual resources [3] that create the goodwill (Fig.1). Fig.1. Intellectual resources in comparison with the components of intellectual capital. Intellectual assets/resources are often referred to as the wealth or treasure of an organization and seen as items of individual components of intellectual capital. The majority of authors agree that the intellectual resources play a key role among the components of intellectual capital. They constitute intellectual assets, which are the sum of knowledge of employees or separate groups (structures) of employees [4, 8, 9] and which the organization uses in its business activities by applying the currently available technologies (Fig. 2). Fig.2. Basic elements of the organization and correlations between them. For the purposes hereof, the following definition of the intellectual resource was adopted: Intellectual resources of the organization are its intellectual assets, such as data, information or knowledge (Fig.3); Fig.3. Basic types of intellectual resources and correlations between them. Source: own elaboration. Whereas [7, 10, 12]: The data constitute raw facts, numbers and events, not subject to any analysis, on the basis of which the information may be developed. Clean unprocessed data have little practical meaning. The development of IT technologies significantly accelerates the data management process. The information is an abstract value, which may be: stored in certain objects, transferred between certain objects, processed in certain objects and used to control certain objects, where the objects shall be deemed to mean living organisms, processes, devices and systems of such objects. Capital Human Capital relational (Clients) Organizational capital (structural) Intellectual resources: