隨著資訊科技與經濟環境的變遷，傳統之財務或有形資產為企業價值所在的觀念已逐漸式微，取而代之的是組織的核心競爭能力、知識工作者、專業知識與創新能力等無形資產所創造的價值。因此，學者提出了一個新的價值衡量與企業管理的新方法--「智慧資本」，用以解釋目前許多卓越的企業，它們的市場價值遠超過帳面價值的情形。 智慧資本主要由人力資本、結構資本與顧客資本的因素所組成。在競爭日益激烈的環境中，企業必須要重新思考真正成功的關鍵因素及努力的方向，以人為本所創造的知識技術等無形資產才是現代企業的核心競爭力來源。 如何妥善運用組織內部的人力資本，使其成為組織的競爭優勢，是企業所應努力的方向，本研究依據人力資本相關的文獻為基礎，再參酌國內外相關之理論以及研究的結果，來了解企業的人力資本的內涵及項目。
Accompanying the changes of information technology and economic environment, traditionally the perspective of treating financial and tangible assets as the location of firm's value has been diminished. What is important will be replaced by the organizational core capacity, knowledge workers, professional knowledge, creative ability and the likes made by intangible capital. Therefore, scholars present a new measure of value measuring and corporate management –"Intellectual Capital". Intellectual capital is developed to explain the phenomenon that nowadays many firms' market value exceed their book value. Intellectual capital mainly consists of human capital, structural capital and customer capital. Facing the rising and flourishing trend of internationalization and such a extremely intense competition environment, the capability to obtain and utilize intangible asset, such as knowledge and human capital, is not only the importance source of inimitable competitive advantage but also a indispensable core competence that enterprises need to possess. Therefore, researchers, consultants and managers are now focusing on a "new" competitive advantage that promises infinite possibilities: human capital. Highly educated, knowledgeable workers the most in demand are the hardest to find and the easiest to lose. Attracting, retaining and developing human capital are the most important way organizations can keep up with the competition around the globe.
