Abstract
The research has analyzed the concept and the business relevance of intangible assets. After a thorough survey of the existing literature, the paradigm of the intellectual capital has been adopted and considered as the synthesis of three elements: the relational capital, the human capital and the organizational capital. The research is based on the outcomes of the interviews to top managers in six banks with different structure and size and all operating in a regional competitive arena. The interviews have dealt with the relevance of intangibles on competition and with the management of human resources, customer relationships, ICT, technological and organizational resources. This analysis has pointed out the critical issues and the management tools in these fields. In particular, three different steps in awareness have been recognized in the relationship between information systems and value generation inside the organizational capital ("value setting, value regulating, value creating"). Finally, the research has analyzed some tools to evaluate the link between intangible assets and value generation, stressing the need for integration of the different elements inside the business process.