Intangible is antimatter and good similarities exist between matter & antimatter in one hand, and tangible & intangible at the other. Intangible in the mundane world of business management has been used in only one instance, otherwise, not surprisingly, not touched at all. A physics textbook describes matter as “that takes up space and has mass”. Every physical object we have ever seen consists of matter. Scientists however have been continuously exploring the existence of antimatter in the known universe. The latest experiment is with a Large Hadron Collider (LHC) a 27-km long tunnel where beams of particles are fired to prove the theory that a particle when it meets its antiparticle, they annihilate each other and their entire mass is converted into pure energy. One of the LHC detectors, code named LHCb, is trying to investigate that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created in the Big Bang and what happened to the “missing” antimatter.
In the field of management too, a similar experiment is being conducted and the purpose is the same. Similar to the LHC a very long tunnel was built for the experiment inside a Balance Sheet. Two beams were sent one a matter called asset and another antimatter called intangible. They were to collide and annihilate each other and the entire mass of intangible asset was to be converted into pure energy. The experiments are on, with a hiccup similar to the LHC.
Experiments are fundamental to scientific discoveries despite knowing fully well that experiments could go wrong to prove a theory. But experiments are essential and without these we wouldn’t be enjoying the day-to-day use of cell phones and Internet. LHC’s Big Bang experiment is expected to find Higgs Boson particle, also called God Particle, giving a theoretical explanation for the origin of mass in the universe and a proof that without its presence there would be no gravity. LHC has taken a considerable time and cost of the scientific community and despite of the current delay in experimentation process, on account of multiple problems, the scientific community is keen on continuing the experiments. Prof Hawking, who has motor neurone disease, bedridden in a hospital, is keen to get an update on work at the Large Hadron Collider and the interest of the scientific community has not diminished on account of the delay.
Herein in this domain is the story of intangible, its origin, its misuse with the experiment called intangible asset, its journey, its brush with WYSWYG principle, its characteristics, its understanding and finds out how ‘intangible’ is the God particle without which there is no pull or energy in the body of management.
Jayaraman Rajah Iyer
Introductory Chapter to the Book Inactivity Based Cost Management: Sub-titled: Measurement of Intangible: Governance, Ethical & Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability
Author: Based on the book Inactivity Based Cost Management: How to measure: Measurement of Intangible: Governance, Ethical & Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24530
Printed Version: https://www.createspace.com/3488434
Kindle Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Z9JQWQ