Credit Appraisal of Knowledge Companies 1999 (Engelska)Självständigt arbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen)Studentuppsats (Examensarbete)

Abstract [en]

Background: With the evolution of society the flora of companies has changed. Service and knowledge companies now constitute an increasingly important part of the economic life. Service companies as opposed to manufacturing companies have few tangible assets and this is exceedingly true for knowledge companies. These intangible assets are more familiar as the intellectual capital, which along with the financial assets make up the market value of a company. The intellectual capital can in turn be divided into the human capital and the structural capital. The return on the financial capital is no longer relevant. Instead, the success of a knowledge company depends on the return on the intellectual capital. It is in these assets that the sustainable future earnings ability exists. Due to the unique characteristics of knowledge companies complications of credit appraisal arise as established means of appraisal and a common usage do not exist. The existing framework of appraisal has become too static and hidebound to keep up with modern and intelligent organisations. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the credit granting process and explain how banks appraise knowledge companies with respect to the intellectual capital. The base for the thesis will be theoretical and empirical studies. My expectation is to give an explanation and develop an understanding of how knowledge companies are assessed when applying for credit. The shortcomings of the present, rather static, model of credit appraisal especially when applied on knowledge companies will be pointed out. Further, the way banks meet with the “new” assets now and in the future will be discussed. Method: The thesis has been based on theoretical studies presented in the frame of reference, and a qualitative, multiple case study as empirical investigation. This approach of examination was chosen according to the descriptive and explanatory purpose. The performed interviews were based on a semi-structured form and were executed as conversational interviews. The empirical findings and the theoretical resluts were later combined ending up in the conclusions. Conclusions: Banks are still inclined to look at companies from the view that they consist to a great deal of material assets. This view is reflected in the banks’ frames and structures of credit appraisal. Therefore, any specific methods analysing knowledge companies have not yet been developed. The human capital is considered as the most important asset. However, the assessment of the human capital is principally confined to management’s knowledge and competence to realise the business idea. Due to lack of knowledge and competence within the banks structured analyses of the aggregated human capital are not conducted though a comprehension of it can be gained during the course of the overall analysis and through intuition. The structure capital is experienced as abstract and the banks do not know what or how to assess it. Though some parts that can be appreciated such as goodwill and patents are considered. It seems as the importance of the structural capital to the stability and repayment ability is not fully understood by all of the interviewed banks.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

1999.

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-8559Lokalt ID: U2621OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-8559DiVA, id: diva2:363645

Uppsök

samhälle/juridik

Anmärkning

Denna uppsats kan beställas från arkivet / This paper can be ordered from the archive. Kontakta / Contact: arkivet@hh.seTillgänglig från: 2010-11-09 Skapad: 2010-11-09Bibliografiskt granskad

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