Nearly two-thirds of the world's GDP now comes from the intangible service industry -- as opposed to tangible industries like manufacturing or agriculture -- where competitive advantage isn't about who's the biggest, but who's the smartest.
In this environment, that intangible record industry dance, which depends upon timing, impulse and who your connections happen to be, is even more pronounced.
In essence, they're suggested that GDP -- which focuses exclusively on tangible production and consumption -- no longer should be our sole definition of global success especially at a time when 64% of the world's GDP now comes from the intangible service industry.
"The majority of intangible assets live in industries that are relatively unknown or relatively boring".
For Harriet Quick, the fashion features director for British Vogue, such specialised craftsmanship gives the haute couture industry its intangible appeal.
However, in order to create an effective smart factory context, human performance should be included to drive smart system adaptation in efficient and effective way, also by exploiting the linkages between tangible and intangible entities offered by Industry 4.0.
This is true especially in the services industries, where the intangible nature of the services makes employees one of the most crucial parameters in the value generation process of the service organization.
Finally, there is much written on the importance of intangible resources or assets in industries that rely on relationships and communication to get things done, though relatively little in health care.
One of the chief innovations of the last century, and indeed one of the key culprits involved in rising inequality identified by Oxfam, is the growth of an industry of tradable intangible assets in the form of financial instruments.
Recall that customer goodwill is an intangible asset of any airline industry and is a result of an efficient flight performance.
