Human Capital: A Strategic Asset Whose Time Has Come to Be Recognized on Organizations' Financial Statements

Abstract

This article examines the issue of how organizations value human capital—are they treated as the intellectual resource within the asset side of the ledger, or are they an expense that drains the company of cash and risks their competitive advantage? The article will focus on the idea that the value of the human capital assets should be measure and considered part of the organizations market value. The exploration of knowledge-based economies has strengthened the argument for setting value to those producing creative and innovative processes within the organization. Central to this article is the belief that human capital is an accountable asset that must be valued on corporate financial statements as Infosys has adopted since 2008. While some would argue that financial value cannot be attached to labor, this argument does not seem to be supported in the knowledge-based economy. If an organization's most valuable asset is its people, then the argument must be broached that accounting standards (such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB] and generally accepted accounting principles [GAAP]) should keep current with the 21st century. If a true comparison of organizations takes place, can that comparison ignore its human capital? © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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