Indicators and standards for measuring intellectual capital of companies in the emerging industry: Exemplified by biopharmaceutical companies

Under high uncertainty circumstance, valuating the intangible assets of biotech companies is a vital task. This study explores indicators and standards for measuring the intellectual capital (IC) of a sub-biotech industry, biopharmaceuticals, in Taiwan. The methodology of measurement construction was used to generate innovative indicators and standards for IC measurement. Forty nine items in three IC dimensions, including human capital, structural capital and relational capital, were constructed based on interviews with 20 CEOs or senior managers in biopharmaceutical companies. The measurement was found to be different for companies at different developmental stages and has potential for longitudinal use.