Intellectual Assets of Anheuser-Busch free essay sample

Intellectual Assets Anheuser-Busch has an abundance of intellectual assets, also known as intellectual capital. To begin, intellectual capital can be defined as â€Å"the total Knowledge within an organization that may be converted into value, or used to produce a higher value asset. The term embodies the knowledge and expertise of employees; brands; customer information and relationships; contracts; internal processes, methods, and technologies; and Intellectual property† (Prior, 2008). Breaking the term down even further we can divide intellectual capital into three components: human capital, structural capital, and relational capital (Zambon, 2002). The creation of human capital at Anheuser-Busch is a top priority. â€Å"When you become a part of our family, your input, ideas and insights are accepted and valued. Since 1852, we have invested human, technological and financial resources to ensure that Anheuser-Busch quality remains strong and true. We consistently think of newer, better, and/or bigger ways to improve our products, services and operations† (Anheuser Busch, 2008). We will write a custom essay sample on Intellectual Assets of Anheuser-Busch or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Anheuser-Busch offers an array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, prescription, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, travel accident benefits, short and long term disability, retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, employee assistance programs, work/family balance, liberal vacation and holiday packages, promote from within policies, tickets to Busch entertainment theme parks, use of fitness centers, and even complimentary beer with the thought that an outstanding place to work who offers great benefits will attract great human capital (Anheuser-Busch, 2008). One of Anheuser-Busch’s business units, Busch Entertainment Corporation, has a â€Å"leadership training program that employs a variety of exercises, assessments, and out-of-class assignments to teach the importance of and the keys to promoting service leadership† and â€Å"employees can enhance their skills through a 16-hour leadership training program delivered over three to four weeks, cross-training, team projects, participation in roundtable events, and visiting other parks for benchmarking† (AARP, 2008). Training rograms such as Anheuser-Busch’s create human capital. The second component of intellectual capital is structural capital. Structural capital can include such concepts as organizational processes, trademarks, laboratories and market intelligence, leadership, leaseholds, franchises, licenses, and patents. Anheuser-Busch’s most notable and profitable trademark is Budweiser. Budweiser is synonymous with Anheuser-Busch. Even if a person never heard of the Anheuser-Busch company they have almost certainly heard of the beer called Budweiser. The name is so prestigious that even today Anheuser-Busch still battles with â€Å"the Czech beer producer Budejovicky Budvar over the right to use the trademark name Budweiser on their products† and â€Å"Both the brews have a long history of existence. The disagreements over the right to use the trademark started in late 1870s, when the brewers began to export their like-named products to markets beyond their national borders† (Homolova, 2000). The ongoing fight proves that the name Budweiser is an extremely valuable intangible asset in itself. Anheuser-Busch also has very valuable licenses that are attributed to its intellectual capital. Most importantly Anheuser-Busch is licensed to sell its product all over the world which adds to its profitability. Other structural capitals attributed to Anheuser-Busch include an array of patents; their process for brewing beer and treating spent grains, step mashing process for producing low alcohol beer, and their process for filling beer into containers to name a few (Bioportfolio, 2008). The third component of intellectual capital is relational capital. Relational capital can include customer relationships, customer loyalty and satisfaction, distribution relationships and agreements, and relationships with other partners and other stakeholders. As noted on their website Anheuser-Busch strives to achieve great customer and distribution relationships. Some of Anheuser-Busch’s goals and values are to put quality in everything they do, to continually exceed customer expectations, and to enjoy trust respect and integrity in all of their relationships. By enjoying the title of being the largest brewing company in the Unites States, by volume, they have obviously exceeded customer expectations. These goals have helped Anheuser-Busch achieve great relational capital. Strategies In addition to Anheuser-Busch’s intellectual property they take part in formulating a wide array of business-level strategies, corporate-level strategies, international-level strategies, and entrepreneurial strategies. In regards to business-level strategies and overall cost leadership, Anheuser-Busch is the undeniable industry leader when it comes to beer sales. Even if Anheuser-Busch beers arent the cheapest, they still are bought for their quality and Anheuser-Busch has gained tremendous market share for this. As for their focus, Anheuser-Busch focuses on a broad segment of customers producing a variety of beers for a variety of budgets to suit all personalities needs. Their differentiation factor is that even though Anheuser-Busch produces such cheaper beers as Budweiser and Bud Light, they also produce premium, more expensive beers like Bare Knuckle Stout and Shock Top Belgian White. Anheuser-Busch produces over 100 different brands of beer and they are able to charge more for the specialty beers. In regards to Anheuser-Busch’s corporate-level strategies they have not only been successful in selling just beer, the company has been successful in adding business units to its name which include their very own packaging companies, recycling companies, and theme parks. All of these business units have been very successful for Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser-Busch is not only the United States largest brewing companies by volume, it is the worlds largest brewing company based on revenue. This in part is due to its international-level strategies. AB International operates 16 breweries – 14 in China, one in the United Kingdom and one in India† (Anheuser-Busch, 2008). Their most popular brand, Budweiser, is â€Å"is locally brewed in nine other countries outside the United States under the direct supervision of Anheuser-Busch brew masters. They are: Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Panama, Russia, South Korea and Spain† (Anheuser-Busch, 2008). Anheuser-Busch’s most recent entrepreneurial strategy may have just been its best ever. Anheuser-Busch has agreed to combine with InBev, the world’s second largest beer brewer, to become Anheuser-Busch InBev. The all-cash deal, for $70 a share, would create the world’s largest brewer, uniting the maker of Budweiser and Michelob with the producer of Stella Artois, Bass and Brahma. Together, the two companies would have sales of more than $36 billion a year, surpassing the current No. 1 brewer, SABMiller of London† (De la Merced, 2008). Anheuser-Busch is a household name. They are an industry leader and soon to be the world leader in brewing. Its intellectual assets have made it a profitable company and its organizational strategies have made it number one. I’m not sure that Anheuser-Busch should change any of its strategies.