Evaluating fashion retailers' intellectual capital: key money as a part of customer capital

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to enrich the scientific and managerial debate on intangibles by placing the concept of key money within the broader concept of Intellectual Capital, and by proposing an evaluation approach for a portion of the latter, focusing the analysis on fashion retailers.Design/methodology/approachThis research focuses on the fashion industry, given that key money gains particular significance and accounted for in fashion retailers' financial statements. A comparative case study is presented with regard to the application of two evaluation methods proposed to some fashion retailers operating in Italy.FindingsThis paper defines a suitable placement for key money within the vast structure of intellectual capital. The research shows that the two methods give “very close” key money values, thus laying the foundations for a theoretical articulation of interest to be further explored in future researches.Originality/valueThe document represents a first in-depth examination regarding the evaluation and inclusion of key money in the intellectual capital. A further element of originality lies in having interpreted the key money in a perspective closer to the world of intangibles and competitive strategies, to the detriment of the previous (meagre) settings that placed it within the real estate branches of study.

The Habit of Savings among College students

It is not easy to come by money however, money can easily ‘leave' one's possession if not properly managed. Money management skills are therefore important skills for life especially in the youthful days as wealth creation is not entirely about how hardworking an individual is but factors such as his/her ability to understand how money works and apply its management principles are of essence. Savings play an integral aspect of an individual’s financial management skills since it is the bedrock of personal financial success. Savings is not just about setting money aside for future use but also has to do with keeping anything of economic value. Savings are securing assurance today for tomorrow's uncertainties. This paper sought to examine the habit of savings among the college students. The result indicated that the majority of the college students do not save as a result of certain contributory factors such as meager salaries and economic hardships. Also, the majority of the college students do not have definite financial management plans such as savings as a result of inadequate financial literacy. The study concluded on the need for public education on key money management skills such as savings which is a recipe for wealth creation.

The New Stage of Globalization

By the end of 1990, foreign direct investment&mdash;that is, investment in manufacturing, real estate, raw materials, extraction, financial institutions, etc., made by capitalists of all lands outside their national borders&mdash;reached over $1.5 trillion&hellip;. [W]hat is significant about this number is not only its size but the unprecedented speed with which it has grown in the last two decades: the amount directly invested in foreign lands nearly tripled in the 1980s alone&hellip;. This upsurge and diversification of globalization has been introducing new economic and political features in the countries of both the periphery and the core. In the periphery, foreign capital has penetrated more widely and deeply than ever before. In the core, this change of direction has helped produce in the world's key money markets an extraordinary spiraling of credit creation, international flows of money capital, and speculation.<p class="mrlink"><p class="mrpurchaselink"><a href="http://monthlyreview.org/index/volume-67-number-3" title="Vol. 67, No. 3: July 2015" target="_self">Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the <em>Monthly Review</em> website.</a></p>