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There are two key types of Intangibles according to international intangible standards

1. Soft intangibles - Which relate to knowledge (non-collaborative activities) and relationships (collaborative activities) in their source (non-owned form). Soft intangibles cannot be owned by an organization which has led many in the financial world to state that they are invisible. This assumption is false. Soft intangibles (tacit knowledge, expertise, quality, service, sustainability, engagement, motivation, etc) do NOT require ownership in order to be managed. These resources create value when they are influenced and typically lose value when they are converted into separable assets, called "hard intangibles".  ; and 2. Hard intangibles - Occur when soft intangibles become subject to legal ownership. This occurs in three basic ways (1) as an act of creation (the development of intellectual property such as copyright, trademarks, patents, designs, etc), (2) an act of acquisition (goodwill), or (3) an act of independent valuation (reputation).

The key issue is that soft intangibles create hard intangibles.

Soft intangibles are also responsible for the allocation of costs and the creation of service, engagement, motivation, and therefore productivity, revenue, and ultimately earnings and investor returns.

It is possible to scientifically identify, audit, visually map, and financially report soft intangible value.

Intangibles are also qualities in an individual or group of individuals, especially those organized in an official group (e.g. a sports team or office) which affect performance but are not directly measurable. They are often cited as a reason for performance which is surprisingly better or worse than expected. For example, no particular player on a sports team might be seen as a standout player, but as a group they might be able to defeat teams who are seen as superior in skill. Intangibles are often broken down into categories of abstract nouns including ability to work as a team, dedication and effort, and so on.

• In the business world, intangibles are commonly referred to as intangible assets or intellectual capital.
• Intangibles that are legally created are referred to as intellectual property.
• Intangibles can be systematically identified, audited, financially valued and managed through the application of more than 40 international intangible standards

international intangible standards.

See capital asset for intangibles issues that arise in accounting, including a more detailed sports example.

See capital (economics) for issues that arise in economics, including a more detailed breakdown of types of assets.

• Disambiguation pages