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The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the value of intangible resources and, consequently, the importance of their integration into performance measurement systems applied in the hotel industry.

Based on a thorough literature review, arguments draw on relevant theories in performance measurement in the hotel industry and the concept of intangible resources. Merging these two different concepts reveals new research areas.

The literature review shows that even those integrated performance measurement systems that aim to include non‐financial measures do not necessarily capture intangible resources. Based on this finding, suggestions for extending performance measurement systems are made.

This paper has significant implications for hotel managers, as it will allow them to broaden their perspective and include important performance drivers (i.e. intangible resources such as knowledge, motivation and social capital) in their performance measurement systems.

The paper highlights the need for a comprehensive performance measurement approach that comprises indicators for measuring intangible resources and suggests tools that better capture the contribution of these important performance drivers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of intangible resources in the performance management of European hospitals. The extent of the awareness of intangible resources as performance drivers is examined in five different European hospitals, from both the private and the public sector.

An inductive approach was taken based on open ended, semi‐structured interviews with key informants.

Research results indicate that hospitals' managers realise the importance of intangible resources. In particular these relate to three different areas, namely the management of hospitals' human resources, the creation of relationships within and outside the organisation, and the measurement of individual performance.

This research is exploratory in nature. Further and deeper research is needed which focuses on the identification of the most relevant resources in hospitals and their impact on performance. Both will then justify the integration of these intangible resources in performance measurement systems.

This research gives insights into the awareness of intangible resources in different European hospitals. It explores the use of intangible resources in performance measurement systems. Much of the research in this area has been concentrated on the private commercial sector, linked to creating shareholder value, and this paper adds to the newly developing research looking at hospital settings.