Goodwill: is it a resource or an expectation? Some exploratory considerations

Is Goodwill a resource or an expectation? This challenging question is really relevant, in particular in these years in which we can assist to a relevant event: before the crisis the positive difference between market value and book value was usually justified as “internally generated goodwill” or, more in general, “unrecognized intangible assets”, whereas after the crisis, such difference has in many cases become negative, changing, in some ways, the basis of this sentence. This new situation could suggest to reconsider the role and the essence of intangible assets and in particular of the internally generated goodwill (IGG). In particular we would like to inquire if goodwill can be considered as a resource or if it is better to consider it as an expectation. Or is it another thing, or a little bit of all these aspects? The solution of this problem could probably have a deep impact on the way goodwill should be valuated. To try to understand the meaning of goodwill and the best way to estimate it is necessary double cross theories arising from the studies of strategy and management, on one side and theories used within the studies of accounting. The dialogue between these different disciplines can be very useful to give a reply to the research question and have positive effects on the way of estimating and recognize goodwill and eventually, in the future, the internally generated goodwill (IRR). This paper represents only the first step of the research and has the purpose to try to define a way of operating, focusing on the main aspects that seems to impact on the considered issue and to try to define future developments of the research. In particular really important are studies about value creation and competitive advantage. Among them, we will in particular focus on the “Resource based view” and its evolution during the years.