How transparent do you need to be? here's what it takes to make others see your company's value. (Cap Gemini Ernst & Young).

These days, it's not enough to simply make a great widget and report on the financials. If you want your company to be truly successful -- and be recognized by investors and the public as such -- you need to manage your brand, culture, and 10 other invisible, yet critical, assets.

These so-called "intangibles" are the drivers of business value that don't typically make it onto a balance sheet, yet they fundamentally affect your competitive position in the marketplace and account for over one-third of a portfolio analyst's decision about how your company is valued (for more detailed information, see the full article in this issue entitled, "Intangibles as a Route to Investor Confidence.")

See What's Invisible

The challenge for most companies is in determining how to assess and measure the impact of this non-financial data:

* What are the intangibles you're relying on for your future strategy?

* Are you investing dollars in these areas and, if so, what methods are you relying on to make these investment decisions?

* Are you measuring the results?

* Is your strategy successful?

CGE&Y developed the Value Creation Index to help you measure and assess intangible elements, including your company's brand equity, strategy execution, reputation, innovative culture, alliances, technology and processes, ability to innovate and more.

Using our Value Creation Index methodology, we can define the critical intangible drivers of your company's performance, estimate their value and demonstrate the relationship and impact of a change in these intangibles on performance measures such as market value, retention, price tolerance and more.

Be Accountable for Your Success

Communicating the value of your company's intangibles to the Street and managing them for improvement can cement confidence in investors. Transparent communication is a key part of improving your corporate accountability procedures as well. Companies need to go beyond compliance and build creditability and transparency in the company's value drivers, and risk and opportunities.

CGE&Y's Corporate Accountability Review (CAR) uses proprietary assessment tools and leading practices to perform a thorough assessment of your finance organization, helping you to outline strategic improvements and prioritize plans to delivery transparency.

The Corporate Accountability Review is designed to help key members of your organization:

* Understand the scope of all finance efforts;

* Review key financial processes; and

* Prioritize and act on the largest areas of exposure

Learn more about Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's Value Creation Index and Corporate

Accountability Review. Contact: Bob Rizzitello, 215-449-5988 ([e-mail])

SAVE THE DATE. Get the scoop on intangibles from the company that wrote the book. Log in to an upcoming Webcast with CGE&Y's Pam Cohen Kalafut, author of Invisible Advantage: How Intangibles are Changing the Rules o Business. Friday, August 21st at 4pm EST. For more information, contact Colleen Hughes at [e-mail].