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There has been a significant increase in flooding in the UK over the past ten years. During this time, Government policy has moved from investment in flood defences towards encouraging property owners to take responsibility for reducing the impact of flooding. One of the ways in which this can be achieved is for homeowners to adapt their properties to flood risk by implementing property level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures. While there has been some attempt to develop an understanding of the benefits of such measures, these previous studies have their limitations in that the intangible benefits have not been fully considered. As such, there remains a need for further development of these studies towards developing a more comprehensive understanding of PLFRA measures. It is against this background the purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual cost benefit analysis (CBA) framework for PLFRA measure. This framework brings together the key parameters of the costs and benefits of adapting properties to flood risk including the intangible benefits, which have so far been overlooked in previous studies.

A critical review of the standard methods and existing CBA models of PLFRA measures was undertaken. A synthesis of this literature and the literature on the nature of flooding and measures to reduce and eliminate their impacts provides the basis for the development of a conceptual framework of the costs and benefits of PLFRA measures. Within the developed framework, particular emphasis is placed on the intangible impacts, as these have largely been excluded from previous studies in the domain of PLFRA measures.

The framework provides a systematic way of assessing the costs and benefits of PLFRA measures. A unique feature of the framework is the inclusion of intangible impacts, such as anxiety and ill health, which are known to be difficult to measure. The study proposes to implement one of the stated preference methods (SPM) of valuation to measure these impacts, known as the willingness to pay method, as part of a survey of homeowners. The inclusion of these intangible impacts provides the potential to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the benefit cost ratio (BCR) for different stakeholders. The newly developed CBA conceptual framework includes four principal components: the tangible benefits to insurers; the tangible benefits to the government; the tangible benefits to homeowners; and the intangible benefits to homeowners.

This tool offers the potential to support government policy concerned with increasing the uptake of PLFRA measures through increasing the information available to homeowners and thereby supporting the decision-making process.

Investigates the concept of product intangibility, considers its implications for marketing, and examines the way in which managers view intangibility and cope with its marketing consequences. Draws on existing literature and results of interviews with managers in service industries across a broad range. Provides evidence which strongly suggests that product intangibility has a profound effect on the marketing of services. Suggests, also, that there is a lack of guidance for service managers in relation to tackling the problems and making use of the opportunities created by intangible products. Proposes that marketing needs to address these problems by suitably adapting existing tools and providing new concepts to explain and manage intangibility correctly.

This study aims to fill a gap in branding literature concerning the effect of corporate brand relationships on brand value through the case study method in a business-to-business (B2B) context. The objectives of this study can be framed in the following three questions: what are the main constituents of a corporate brand; how does a corporate brand generate tangible and intangible brand value for their business customers; and how do tangible and intangible brand benefits influence relationship initiation and management practices of the case companies?

The study adopts a qualitative multiple cases study design by using archival data and both in-depth telephone and online interviews with senior representatives of the case study companies to investigate corporate branding and associated issues in a B2B context.

From a managerial perspective, this study reveals that corporate business culture, brand relationships, products and corporate identity and personality as the main constituents of a corporate brand in a B2B context. The results show that a corporate brand can generate intangible and tangible brand value benefits for business customers. The findings also note the importance of brand value in enhancing relationship initiation.

The study contributes to the branding literature by developing a conceptual model that explains the development and role of the corporate brand in a B2B context with its associated value creation and brand management outcomes. The findings advance brand management literature on business relationships, which addresses a gap in B2B contexts rather than mainly about product brand management and value creation in business-to-consumer contexts.

This paper seeks to provide a tool for decision makers to make more informed decisions regarding their outsourcing decisions and selection of the appropriate supplier.

The method uses the Taguchi loss function for the inclusion of intangibles in the evaluation and selection of suppliers. Intangibles are defined as factors that have an impact on the selection of an appropriate supplier but are not easily quantified to be included in the financial evaluation. These intangibles are classified as the benefits and risks of using a supplier to perform the outsourcing function. A decision maker has certain expectations regarding these intangibles and a loss occurs when a supplier's performance does not meet the decision maker's expectations. The Taguchi loss function has been selected as a means of measuring the loss. The decision maker defines the target value and the specification limits for each benefit and risk category. The weighted loss scores are calculated where the weights are the importance ratings assigned to benefit/risk categories by the decision maker. Based on this analysis each supplier will receive a weighted loss score for all the pertinent benefit categories and one weighted loss score for all the risk categories. To achieve a single measure, the aforementioned weighted loss scores are combined to determine a single aggregate loss score for each supplier, which is then used to rank them. The supplier who receives the highest ranking (minimum loss score) will be selected to perform the outsourcing function.

The procedure proposed here can help companies to identify the best supplier to perform an outsourcing function.

The paper presents a phased decision model that begins with economic evaluation and then uses Taguchi functions to measure the impact of intangibles.

The purpose of this paper is to provide examples and technical details for conducting a value network analysis that addresses the conversion and utilisation of intangible assets.

Value network analysis was first developed in 1993 and was adapted in 1997 for intangible asset management. It has been tested in applications from shop floor work groups to business webs and economic regions. It draws from a theory based in living systems, knowledge management, complexity theory, system dynamics, and intangible asset management.

The paper provides a high level of detail on the analysis method and insights from its practical application across a range of business issues. Tips are provided for how to integrate the methodology with other business analysis approaches.

The paper does not provide a comparative analysis with other methods because most other value network models are process views, social network analysis or clustering techniques.

Sufficient detail is provided so researchers and practitioners will be able to apply the method in their own investigations. Further resources are noted, as well as access points to the global user community and open source tools.

This paper is the first detailed publication of the value network analysis method, which has been acclaimed by experts in intangibles, network analysis, knowledge management, and process analysis. It fills a gap between theory and practice for managers, executives, analysts, and researchers.

In the study, an attempt was made to estimate the social benefits resulting from three non-mega sporting events organized in Ergo Arena located on the border of two cities in Poland. By attributing a value to intangible social benefits, the intangible effect was determined and compared to the expenditure incurred in the construction of Ergo Arena Hall.

In order to value social intangible effects of three non-mega sporting events the Contingent Valuation Method was applied. Each time, the Contingent Valuation Method study covered the area of the two cities: Gdańsk and Sopot and was conducted on a sample of 500 people – 250 per city. The mean values of Willingness-to-Pay were used in order to obtain aggregate values of intangible benefits. Finally, the aggregate results were compared to expenditure incurred in connection with the construction of Ergo Arena Hall.

It appeared that intangible effects were eagerly valued by the residents of Gdańsk and Sopot. The aggregated value of all three sporting events was estimated at PLN 8.8 million. The obtained results question the equal share of both cities in financing but confirm that under certain circumstances, hosting non-mega sporting events may justify the use of public funds. In the case of the two cities, the reasonable reason for the employment of public means is the size of Gdańsk compared to Sopot.

The paper fulfils the research gap which arises regarding Willingness-to-Pay in estimating the intangible social effects of non-mega sporting events and considering these effects in the net effect valuation. The findings have implications for policy makers since they show to what extent it may be justified to use public means in order to host non-mega sporting events.

This paper presents a simple methodological framework to characterise the tangible and intangible benefits of a university athletics department. The methodology is applied to the athletics department at Gonzaga University (GU) in Spokane, Washington USA. The brand equity associated with this department is estimated at approximately US$5.8 million in 2006. Of this, between $617,000 and $2.71 million is ascribed to a specific type of tangible brand equity (with the most plausible estimate being $926,000); namely, the impact of GU athletics events on the economic vitality of the local community. The remainder is attributed to (unobserved) intangible brand equity benefits.

In recent years there has been a marked development of the “service company”, first in North America and now in Western Europe. Much attention has been given to the marketing of services, but little in the sense of how to do services marketing. This is changing as more and more services begin to take the question of marketing seriously. This article looks at the theory, practice, and future of services marketing.

Suggests that businesses need a method specifically designed to assess the value of knowledge‐based system (KBS) investments. Explains the inadequacies of current valuation methods when they are applied to KBS investment decisions. Proposes a graphical valuation method which adapts the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to overcome these inadequacies and help business executives make informed KBS investment decisions. Presents an example of the method’s application to a KBS at a large multinational sales and manufacturing company.

This paper aims to present electronic procurement benefits identified in four case companies from the information technology (IT), hi‐tech sector.

Multi‐case study design was applied. The benefits reported in the companies were analysed and classified according to taxonomies from the information systems discipline. Finally, a new benefits classification was proposed. The framework was developed based on information systems literature.

The research confirmed difficulties with benefits evaluation, as, apart from operational benefits, non‐financial, intangible benefits at strategic level were also identified. Traditional evaluation methods are unable to capture all benefits categories, especially at strategic level. New taxonomy was created, which allows evaluation of the complex e‐procurement impact. In the proposed taxonomy, e‐procurement benefits are classified according to their level (operational, tactical, strategic), area of impact, applying scorecard dimensions (customer, process, financial, learning and growth). In addition the benefits characteristic is captured (tangible, intangible, financial and non‐financial).

Research is based on four case studies only. Findings are specific to case companies and the environment in which they operate. The framework should be tested further in different contexts.

The new taxonomy allows evaluation of the complex e‐procurement impact, demonstrating that benefits achieved do not concern merely the financial impact. The framework can be applied to preparing new systems implementation as well as to evaluating existing systems.

The paper applies information systems frameworks to the electronic procurement field, which allows one to look at e‐procurement systems considering its complex impact. The framework can also be used to evaluate different systems, not simply e‐procurement.