Interaction of corporate and urban systems: accumulation of intangible assets

Abstract

This study develops a conceptual framework of the relationship between corporate systems and urban systems in the process of intangible asset accumulation and conducts case studies involving two distinctive and contrasting global firms. Intangible assets are important in maintaining the competitive advantage of cities and regions. The accumulation of local intangibles is the result of the evolutionary development of the relationship between the corporate system and the urban system. The results of the study suggest that the intangible assets of firms are critical in ensuring their competitiveness within a knowledge-based information society.

Keywords:

• intangible assets
• corporate systems
• urban systems
• Samsung Electronics
• Lutronic

Acknowledgment

The author is grateful to the editors and three anonymous referees for very helpful comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. According to our interview respondents in Lutronic and an aesthetic service firm, the skins of Asians are much more sensitive than those of Westerners. Moreover, interviewees believe that Asians follow a more complex and difficult skin care regimen than Westerners do.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea [grant number 2008-B00027].