Recent market volatility has provided a fundamental challenge to those arguing for the central role of intellectual capital as a source of company value. Using perceptual data relevant to the importance of intellectual capital as a source of enterprise value gathered in two studies conducted before and after the recent market 'downturn' respectively, this paper provides empirical evidence in support of the continuing and central importance of intellectual capital. The findings from these two studies also demonstrate consistency in the composition of the human, internal and external components of intellectual capital.

The key to competitive success is likely to be the ability to create, leverage, and develop specialised knowledge and intellectual resources. This new reality presents both challenges and opportunities for accounting, a discipline which has traditionally found it difficult to deal with the recognition and measurement issues surrounding intangible assets. This paper makes two contributions to the emerging literature on intellectual capital. Firstly, it offers some preliminary results of a study of the drivers and generators of intellectual capital. Secondly, it posits a theoretical/ methodological approach to intellectual capital based upon Habermas' concept of communicative action, a concept that allows the premium attaching to the human and dynamic elements of organisations to be accentuated.