Correspondence: Malcolm McDonald, International Ltd, Hampden House, 72 Churchway, Haddenham, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP17 8HA, UK

¹MA (Oxon) MSc PhD D.Litt FCIM FRSA, until recently was Professor of Marketing and Deputy Director, Cranfield University School of Management, with special responsibility for e-business, and is now an Emeritus Professor at the University in addition to being an Honorary Professor at Warwick Business School. Coming from a background in business, which included a number of years as Marketing Director of Canada Dry, Malcolm has successfully maintained a close link between academic rigor and commercial application. He has consulted to many major companies in the areas of strategic marketing and marketing planning, market segmentation, key account management, international marketing and marketing accountability.

Abstract

In capital markets, success is measured in terms of shareholder value added, having taken account of the risks associated with future strategies, the time value of money and the cost of capital. Such value is created by managing assets strategically. The problem, however, is that most of these assets are not on the balance sheet, as they are intangible. This paper illustrates the magnitude of the value of such intangibles and spells out a method for assessing the risks associated with their use in strategic plans and whether they create or destroy shareholder value – Marketing Due Diligence.