Journal of Intellectual Capital

Publisher:: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Publication date:: 2021-02-01

ISBN:: 1469-1930

Issue Number

Latest documents

Happiness as a driver of entrepreneurial initiative and innovation capital
Purpose: This study aims to extend the knowledge in the domain of intellectual capital and entrepreneurship by investigating whether happiness may have a positive influence on entrepreneurial initiative and intellectual property or not. Design/methodology/approach: The used large-scale dataset for 2018 is drawn from the Eurostat. It includes information on individual happiness, sustainability, start-ups, creativity, intellectual property and quality of life, grouped by European countries. Hypotheses are tested through using the linear regression method. Findings: The findings confirm that happiness, along with creativity, fosters both entrepreneurial initiative and intellectual property. Research limitations/implications: Future studies should test the model by extending the analysis to different world regions and by considering further variables, such as country culture. Practical implications: The study suggests that policy makers have to focus on improving life conditions and sustainability as a means to foster local economies and communities. Originality/value: This cutting-edge study is unique in its genus, because the prior literature never focused on these topics jointly. At an academic level, it ties happiness to creativity and to “the entrepreneurial spirit”, thus opening up to a new and vast domain of researches.
Editorial
Intellectual capital and service quality within the mobile telecommunications sector of Egypt
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) (i.e. human capital, structural capital, relational capital) and service quality (SQ) within the Egyptian mobile telecommunications setting. Design/methodology/approach: A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 384 top- middle- and supervisory level managers from three Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies. Findings: Hypotheses related to the relationship of human, structural and relational capital and their influence on SQ were tested. Results show that Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies have mostly emphasized the use of structural capital to boost their SQ. Research limitations/implications: This is an empirical research applied in the Egyptian telecommunications setting. Its relationships need further investigation in other settings and countries. Also, the traditional limitations of a cross-sectional study apply with respect to the attribution of causality and the time lag effects. Practical implications: The optimal procedure for the Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies is to focus their efforts on managing all three components of IC in order to improve their SQ and performance. Originality/value: This is one of the very few researches to study the relationship between intellectual capital and service quality and the first to investigate these relationships in the Arab Region within the mobile telecommunications setting.
Editorial
Measures that matter: an empirical investigation of intellectual capital and financial performance of banking firms in Indonesia
Purpose: This study aims to investigate the intellectual capital–financial performance relationship using two models, namely the conventional Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) model and the adjusted Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (A-VAIC) model. Design/methodology/approach: This study is designed as a quantitative research focusing on the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance of the banking industry in Indonesia. As many as 114 data are derived from the publicly listed banks on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period of 2012–2017. The multiple regression analysis is employed to test the hypotheses studied. Findings: In general, the result confirms that intellectual capital affects financial performance. Although not all hypotheses of the study are supported by either the VAIC model or the A-VAIC model, the results provide a deeper and new insight on how each component of intellectual capital efficiency (human capital, structural capital, capital employed, innovation capital) relates to financial performance (return on asset, return on equity, asset turnover, price to book ratio). The results also justify that further improvements in measuring intellectual capital are still needed in the future. Research limitations/implications: This study limits its generalization since the sample is only in the Indonesian banking industry. Notwithstanding the limitation, the results imply that the Indonesian banking managers need to be aware of intellectual capital management because of its strategic role in enhancing financial performance. Practical implications: This study contributes to the intellectual capital literature by providing empirical evidence on the use of both models, namely the conventional VAIC and the A-VAIC in the Indonesian banking industry research setting which is never been studied before. Social implications: This study has the social implication to the enhancement of the quality life of the society. The higher the quality of intellectual capital in the banking firms, the better the banks serve the needs of the community. Originality/value: This study contributes to the IC literature by providing empirical research on the use of the VAIC model and the A-VAIC model in the Indonesian banking industry.
Intellectual capital and corporate governance: an evaluation of Oman's financial sector companies
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate governance of Oman's financial sector companies. Intellectual capital has been found to successfully contribute to the economic wealth creation of firms in germane literature. Unfortunately, financial statements do not necessarily capture and reflect the contributions of intellectual capital, thereby leading to an information asymmetry between companies and users of financial statements. The research also investigates the relationship between corporate governance and intellectual capital efficiency across various financial subsectors. Design/methodology/approach: Data are collected from annual reports available on Muscat Securities Market for 31 listed financial sector companies for the period 2012 to 2016 and analyzed using a multiple regression model. Intellectual capital is measured using Pulic's efficiency measure of value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC). Corporate governance individual components such as board characteristics, audit committee characteristics and ownership structure are presented as independent variables. Findings: The findings suggest that board size and frequency of audit committee meetings have a significant association with the intellectual capital efficiency of Oman's financial sector. VAIC and human capital efficiency of banks are also significantly influenced by most of the corporate governance mechanisms; however, other subsectors do not report such findings. Corporate governance of banks in comparison to other subsectors effectively engages in utilizing the potential of intellectual capital efficiency. Agency theory and resource dependency theory find limited support as a result of this study. The GMM results are not robust to the alternative instruments. Research limitations/implications: The sample size is small as the study is limited to the listed financial sector of Oman. Future studies can be extended to include all of Oman's or GCC’s listed companies. Additionally, the intellectual capital is measured using the construct of VAIC which suffers some limitations and can be overcome using other tools such as content analysis. Practical implications: The findings of this study suggest that Oman's regulators can create an awareness strategy on highlighting the importance of intellectual capital for companies (board of directors and managers), investors, debtors and creditors. Further, Oman's Capital Market Authority and Muscat Securities Market need to strengthen the regulations related to intellectual capital. Originality/value: This study extends intellectual capital and corporate governance literature by presenting the research outcome for Oman's financial sector. It is useful for Oman's financial sector companies to direct corporate governance measures for driving value creation of firms through the management of intellectual capital efficiency.
Marketing-specific intellectual capital: conceptualization, scale development and empirical illustration
Purpose: The aims of this paper are to identify and classify the knowledge resources that shape intellectual capital (IC) within the marketing function, to develop and validate a related scale and to demonstrate the scale's applicability in an empirical context. Design/methodology/approach: A literature-based approach was adopted to identify and classify knowledge assets in the field of marketing. The new scale's content was then tested in a number of companies with different profiles. A subsequent survey of a representative sample of 346 Spanish firms sought to validate the scale and to assess those companies' marketing-related IC. Findings: The literature search provided the basis for a marketing-related IC architecture comprising three main categories, nine subcategories and eighty items whose validity was tested and confirmed. The survey revealed that marketing-specific human capital (HC) is the most developed knowledge resource in Spanish firms, followed by marketing-specific relational capital (RC), while marketing-specific structural capital (SC) is the least developed. Significant differences were also found among companies with different profiles (B2C vs B2B, high-tech vs low-tech and manufacturing vs services). Originality/value: This study makes a valuable contribution to the IC literature as one of the first to deploy the general IC framework in a specific functional area (here: marketing and sales) for more meaningful and in-depth assessment of firm-specific knowledge resources.
The influence of board directors' institutional and business relationships on philanthropic foundation performance
Purpose: The effect of board intellectual capital on non-profit organizational performance in non-western, less developed economies has been an important yet under-researched area. Given that the institutional and business relationships of a board account for the majority of board intellectual capital, the purpose of this paper is to fill the previously mentioned research gap by addressing how the interactions of the two relationships of board directors influence Chinese philanthropic foundation performance. Design/methodology/approach: Following Creswell's (2014) explanatory sequential mixed-methodology, a qualitative study (Study 1) was first conducted to pre-test the assumptions, and then a quantitative study (Study 2) was carried out based on a secondary database of 1,405 Chinese philanthropic foundations to further examine the hypotheses. Several regression models were built for analyzing the results. Findings: Study 1 confirmed that Chinese philanthropic foundations gained greater revenues and hosted more public welfare activities by leveraging the reinforcing or complementary effects of board directors' intellectual capital to improve organizational performance. Study 2 further examined the hypotheses that the interactions of intellectual capital increased the total revenue and public welfare expenditure of the foundations; however, significant positive relationships were only identified in foundations at the local level, and no significant associations were found in those at the national level. Practical implications: The research indicates that the intellectual capital of board directors may influence the performance of their philanthropic foundations. Thus, Chinese philanthropic foundations should be more aware of the importance of this influence when determining which candidates will join the board. Originality/value: The study makes significant contributions to the existing knowledge of the development of non-governmental organizations; it incorporates the resource dependence theory and agency theory into understanding how the intricate interactions between the institutional and business relationships of board directors affect foundation performance and how the jurisdiction affiliations act as a boundary condition for such relationships in a non-western setting such as China.
The effects of self-reflection on individual intellectual capital
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to develop a tool measuring individual intellectual capital (IIC) and investigate the relationship between self-reflection and IIC. Design/methodology/approach: This study developed a theoretical model based on social cognitive theory and the literature of self-reflection and intellectual capital (IC). This research collected responses from 502 dyads of employees and their direct supervisors in 150 firms in China, and the study tested the research model using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings: The results indicate that three components of self-reflection, namely, need for self-reflection, engagement in self-reflection and insight, significantly contribute to all the three components of IIC, such as individual human capital, individual structural capital and individual relational capital. The findings suggest that need for self-reflection is the weakest component to impact individual human capital and individual relationship capital, while insight is the one that mostly enhances individual structural capital. Practical implications: This paper suggests that managers can enhance employees' IIC by facilitating their self-reflection. Managers can develop appropriate strategies based on findings of this study, to achieve their specific goals. Originality/value: First, this study develops a tool for measuring IIC. Second, this study provides an enriched theoretical explanation on the relationship between self-reflection and IIC – by showing that the three subdimensions of self-reflection, such as need, engagement and insight, influence the three subdimensions of IIC, such as individual human capital, individual structural capital and individual relational capital.
Intangibles and innovation-labor-biased technical change
Purpose: This paper analyzes the productivity effects of structural capital such as research and development (R&D) and organizational capital (OC). Innovation work also produces innovation-labor-biased technical change (IBTC) and knowledge spillovers. Analyses use full register-based dataset of Finnish firms for the period 1994–2014 from Statistics Finland. Design/methodology/approach: Intangibles are derived from the labor costs of innovation-type occupations using linked employer-employee data. The approach is consistent with National Accounting and offered as one method in OECD (2010) and applied in statistical offices, e.g. in measuring software. The EU 7th framework Innodrive project 2008–2011 extended this method to cover R&D and OC. Findings: Methodology is implementable at firm-level and offers way to link personnel reporting to intangible assets. The OC-IBTC as well as total resources allocated to OC are relevant for productivity growth. The R&D stock is relatively higher but R&D-IBTC is smaller than OC-IBTC. Public policy should, besides technology policy, account for OC and OC-IBTC and related knowledge spillovers in the industries that are most important among the SMEs (low market-share-firms). Research limitations/implications: The data are based on remote access to Statistics Finland; the data cannot be disseminated. Originality/value: Intangible assets are measured from innovation work that encompasses not only R&D work. IBTC is proxied in production function estimation by relative compensations on IA work. The non-competing nature of IAs is captured by IA knowledge spillovers. The sample sizes are much higher than in earlier studies on horizontal knowledge spillovers (such as for SMEs,) thus bringing additional generality to the results.