Intangible-Intensive Strategy in Crisis

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of predominance of particular type of intangibles on the performance of the company and explore the industry effect for them for the Russian and European companies through the periods related to crisis (before, during and after crisis of 2008-2009). The database with more than 1600 European and 1000 Russian public companies observed in 2004-2013 years, operating in seven industries with multiple intangible and performance indicators was used for the study. The research found out that performance of European intangible-intensive and not intangible-intensive companies in the crisis related periods differed significantly, while in Russia some groups with not significantly different performance indicators were observed. According to the results of the study, all intangible-intensive segments in Europe, except for human capital, showed lower EVA than non-intangible intensive companies, but much higher MVA for the same periods. Earnings per employee, membership in business associations, qualification of the board of directors, corporate university and ERP system implementation were the most significant intangibles for the performance of European companies. For Russian companies these were foreign capital employment, qualification of the board of directors, earnings per employee, citations in search engines and intangible assets. For these intangibles the industry effect was investigated. The results of the study are presented as the list of main trends, that might be used by top-management of a company and for strategic decision-making, as well as by investors to make their portfolio resistant to crisis. Key words: intangibles, company performance, crisis, intangible-intensive strategy, industry effect