| Knowledge economy is the mainstream economy morph in 21 century, which is a new stage of economic development after agriculture economy and industry economy. Knowledge economy has a keyproductive element which is different from ever productive element before-knowledge. Knowledgebecomes more and more important when driving national economy growth and creating value of enterprise. People acquaint gradually that the value of enterprise is not decided by how many tangible factory buildings and facilities it owns, but by what is call intangible "the third resource" or intellectual capital, such as employee's creative ability, intellectual property it owns, basic structure, and relationship relevant to stakeholders. Therefore, it's necessary to respect and enforce enterprise knowledge or intellectual capital management in order to achieve enterprise value maximum and build up enduring competitive advantage. It brings a huge impact to traditional management conception emphasized on tangible capital management and corresponding accounting model.It's known that traditional accounting model emphasizes measurement of tangible capital, ignoring measurement of knowledge or intangible capital which contributes more and more to enterprise value. Hence, traditional accounting model is hard to reflect enterprise's real value. It can't catch up with knowledge economy age. Intellectual capital should be measured and reported, management accounting for intellectual capital should be built up and developed for managing intellectual capital effectively and reflecting enterprise value more really, just as famous accounting professor Yu Xuying pointed that it's urgent and important especially for management accounting for intellectual capital relevant with deep development of knowledge economy to form and develop.Research of management accounting for intellectual capital started in the middle of 1980's. Although our nation is developing country in the middle of industrialization, it's connected closely with process of global economy integration. The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and 2005 NPC & CPPCC had expressed and emphasized our nation should build up views of scientific development, put people first, follow the new trend of world technology and economy development, absorb all kinds of useful technological and management knowledge of developed countries, improve independent knowledge creative capability, bring great-leap-forward development into effect. Hence, we must understand and deal with knowledge management as well as corresponding management accounting innovation when developing nation economy. So, the study topic of management accounting for intellectual capital is also realistic to our nation.On the base of summing up the achievements of related research work in or out of China, this paper try to do a systematic and deep study in many aspects of management accounting for intellectual capital, such as theoretical basis, basic theory, method system and actual application, so as to provide a relatively complete system of management accounting for intellectual capital.On the first hand, we study the theoretical basis of management accounting for intellectual capital. As a new field of management accounting in knowledge economy, we think that its special theoretical basis is resource-based theory of firm, capability-based theory of firm and knowledge-based theory of the firm. These theories are not only connected with each other but also independent to each other. They haveimportant impact to forming and developing the theory and system of management accounting for intellectual capital respectively. The resource-based theory of firm turned around Porter's the competitiveadvantage-outside theory to internal resource-decided theory of firm------competitive advantage-insidetheory. On the other hand, the capability-based theory of firm and the knowledge-based theory of the firm explored more deeply in which resource of the firm create competitive advantage. Three theories focused on different core concepts, for example, the resource-based theory of firm focused on resource and strategic resource, the capability-based theory worshiped core capability and dynamic core capability, the knowledge-based theory of firm focused on enterprise knowledge and intangible knowledge. Although they had different thoughts and views, three theories explored in the origin of enterprise competitive advantage deeply, connected with each other. The resource-based view of firm thought that strategic resource decided enduring competitive advantage of the firm. The capability-based theory of firm further thought that core capability hided in the back of resource decided enduring competitive advantage of the firm. The knowledge-based theory of firm sought source further and thought what decided core capability is enterprise knowledge and cognition learning closely associated with it. Therefore, enterprise knowledge becomes to be the source of competitive advantage ultimately.The resource-based theory of firm expanded the range of enterprise resource of traditional economics, establishing the theoretical basis of forming and developing management accounting for intellectual capital. The resource-based theory of firm aimed at research achievements of intention and characteristic and forming process of core capability. It can be used as theoretical direction when management accounting for intellectual capital recognizing and measuring core capability. The knowledge-based theory of firm influenced theoretical construction and practice development of management accounting for intellectual capital widely and profoundly. In the knowledge-based theory of firm, the discourse upon enterprise knowledge is concise and profound. It's convenient for us to understand the organization of intellectual capital. Mirco-activity mechanism of enterprise knowledge provided theoretical and methodological instruction to innovate knowledge-oriented management control system.As a new field of management accounting, it's very important to configure the framework of basic theory of management accounting for intellectual capital. Hence, we discussed some basic theoretical problems of management accounting for intellectual capital, such as intention, target, object and elementary assumption. We think that at first, management accounting for intellectual capital is an information system of knowledge management, then, it's a management activity whose feature is supporting strategy decision and management controlling. It's a part which composed knowledge management of firm, accompanying the whole process of knowledge management. The target of knowledge management decided the basic target and concrete target of management accounting. The basic target is to exalt the level and efficiency of knowledge management of firm, to promote core competitive power, to make enterprise value maximum come through. The concrete target is to bring up concrete mission according to the concrete claim of knowledge management. Therefore, the objects of management accounting for intellectual capital are a series of value-created activities surrounding knowledge management of firm and intellectual capital information given off by those activities. Except for basic assumptions of management accounting on hand, management accounting for intellectual capital also includes other distinctive assumptions, such as intellectual capital is valuable organizational resource, the valucof intellectual capital is variable, intellectual capital is going-concern, etc..Management accounting for intellectual capital inherited and expanded human resource accounting and strategic management accounting on hand, on the other hand, the views and methods of human resource accounting and strategic management accounting supplied good creative foundation to management accounting for intellectual capital. In order to accommodate the need of knowledge management in knowledge economy, management accounting for intellectual capital expanded research perspectives and measurement approaches of human resource accounting further more. At the same time, management accounting for intellectual capital developed strategic management accounting. It expanded the research perspectives of strategic management accounting, deeping it into internal intangible resource and core capability and knowledge of firm. It enriched and perfected the content and the method system of strategic management accounting.The first problem need to be solved in method system of management accounting for intellectual capital is to measure intangible intellectual capital visibly. So far, measurement methods of intellectual capital can be divided into two categories: monetary measurement method and not-monetary measurement method, the former used to measure integral value of intellectual capital of firm mainly; the latter used to reflect individual element of intellectual capital of firm in detail. Nowadays, monetary measurement method of intellectual capital includes actual-cost-based measurement, market capitalization methods and economic-value-based measurement. Not-monetary measurement method includes five models: Sweden Scandia Navigator, Intangible Asset Monitor (Sveiby, 1997), Technology Broker(Brooking, 1996), Intellectual Capital Accountant Model(Industry and Trade Development Committee, Denmark), and Value Chain Scoreboard(Lev). All monetary methods and not-monetary methods had advantages and shortcomings and need to be improved. We present improving and innovating measurement methods of intellectual capital in four aspects, aiming at information requirement of knowledge management practice.On the base of measurement of intellectual capital, considering synthetically about tangible assets investment decision method, investment characteristic of intellectual capital and research achievements relevant to intellectual capital investment decision, we presented three more representative intellectual capital investment decision methods, which are Net Present Value(NPV) method, Strategic Investment Appraisal method, and Real Option Approach, as well as analyzed their advantages and shortcomings individual concisely. So far, though Strategic Investment Appraisal method is rough comparatively, it's more concise, imaged and visual. It's accepted easier by managers in firm. Hence, Strategic Investment Appraisal method is a better intellectual capital investment decision method. Using this investment decision method, the firm is taken to invest more to intellectual capital, strengthening its core competitive power.There is another important problem in methods system of management accounting for intellectual capital, which is to innovate management control system of firm in order to advance enterprise knowledge bringing up, sharing, utilizing, and increasing in value. We thought in knowledge economy times it need to build up knowledge-oriented and intellectual capital elements-included management control system for the firm to promote knowledge strategy. On the base of general framework of management control system and of major characteristics of management control system including intellectual capital elements, we built up the basic framework of this new management control system. This basic framework began with analyzing perspective and environment of the firm, and established the strategic target of the firm at first, as well as divided it into concrete targets of financial capital and intellectual capital, then established performancegoals and corresponding concrete quantitative indices of these two aspects' concrete targets further more. The second step is to make a strategy-oriented budget including intellectual capital elements, collocating strategic resources, then designed strategic performance evaluation system including intellectual capital elements and corresponding encouragement project. At last, every links of management control system adjusted dynamically by the anti- feedback of information of strategic performance evaluation.Obviously, strategy-oriented budget including intellectual capital element, strategic performance evaluation and encouragement constitute the chief methods of this basic framework. This paper discussed it in detail. After analyzing major characteristics of strategy-oriented budget including intellectual capital elements, we further explored the reliance, starting point, way of thinking, framework and concrete compilation method of this budget. On the foundation of corresponding budget compilation method on hand, we imagined the compilation method of this budget. The strategic performance evaluation system designed in this paper is an individual performance evaluation system to support knowledge development strategy and improve knowledge management efficiency of the firm. It's different from current government capital performance evaluation system in appraisal goal and appraisal entity and key appraisal perspective, so it's different in evaluation indices system and whole evaluation framework. On the base of this framework, we designed a strategic performance evaluation system including intellectual capital elements for a domestic computer and software manufacture enterprise, as well as operated the concrete marking process of this system.The ultimate purpose of researching the theory and method system of management accounting for intellectual capital is to apply it into practice. We analyzed the necessity of management accounting for intellectual capital applying in our nation from three dimensions: (1) knowledge management practice of domestic enterprises, such as Shanghai Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd. (Bright Dairy) > Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd.(Tsingtao Beer) ?. China Network Communications Corporation(CNC), (2 ) international competitive power of domestic enterprises, and (3) the reform of state property management system. We also gave several advices about promoting applying management accounting for intellectual capital in domestic enterprises. Relevant department of the government can give policy to guide and support applying management accounting for intellectual capital in macrolevel. In academic field, we should combine theoretical research, practical research and promotion of management accounting for intellectual capital together. At the same time, we should enforcing training the practical field about conception and method of management accounting for intellectual capital. Firms should renew traditional conception of capital, applying and exploring effective method of management accounting for intellectual capital.In one word, this paper did a comparatively systematic and deep study in many aspects of management accounting for intellectual capital, such as theoretical basis, basic theory, method system and actual application. In the background of knowledge economy times, the achievement of research is very realistic for domestic enterprise to improve efficiency of knowledge management, and to enforce core competitive power and enduring competitive advantage. In addition, this paper presented theory and method system of knowledge-oriented management accounting, which is also sensitive to improve theoretical research and practical development of management accounting.
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