Business internationalization and intellectual capital components: the case of the Colombian manufacturing sector exports
| Date | 24 December 2024 |
| Pages | 130-151 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-11-2023-0258 |
| Published date | 24 December 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,HR & organizational behaviour,Organizational structure/dynamics,Accounting & finance,Accounting/accountancy,Behavioural accounting |
| Author | Alejandra Pulido-López,Alejandra López-Salazar |
Business internationalization and
intellectual capital components:
the case of the Colombian
manufacturing sector exports
Alejandra Pulido-L
opez
School of Management, Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administraci
on,
Bogota, Colombia, and
Alejandra L
opez-Salazar
Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to understand the impact of intellectual capital components (human, structural and
relational capital) on business internationalization through exports, analyzing the Colombian manufacturing
sector.
Design/methodology/approach –A binomial logistic regression model was used in which the export
propensity was the dependent variable. The explanatory variables consisted of the human capital, including
training and managerial characteristics; the structural capital, including innovation, intellectual property,
certifications and management and the relational capital, encompassing relationships with other companies,
public entities and the domestic market. The Survey of Development and Technological Innovation - EDIT -
Industry 2018, carried out by the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia, was used to
collect data from 7,529 companies in 24 manufacturing subsectors.
Findings –The research findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between internationalization and
human capital (postgraduate, university and school training), with structural capital (innovation in
organizational processes, ownership of patents, software rights, industrial rights, trademark registration,
obtaining intellectual property rights, complexity in design, process certifications, compliance with technical
requirements and the existence of production goals) and with relational capital (confidentiality agreements with
other companies and contracts with the international public sector).
Originality/value –This article contributes to the literature generating knowledge on the relationship between
intellectual capital and the internationalization of Colombian industrial companies. It will also have managerial
and social implications serving as input for the decision-making process of firms undergoing
internationalization, and for policymakers.
Keywords Business internationalization, Exports, Intellectual capital, Human capital, Structural capital,
Relational capital
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Business internationalization has become increasingly important for economic growth,
especially in developing countries (Peters and Okech, 2020). The internationalization is
mediated by intellectual capital, including human capital such as skills, experience,
competences (Dar and Mishra, 2021), leadership, commitment (Javalgi and Todd, 2011)
knowledge and employees capabilities, structural capital in processes and organizational
systems (Zakery and Saremi, 2020) and relational capital with networks and international
connections (Korsakiene et al., 2017).
Expanding operations to international markets requires knowledge, skills and experience
about the global environment and specific markets (Erazo, 2021). In this sense, intellectual
capital plays a fundamental role since it incorporates a whole set of human, relational and
structural elements that allow companies to identify opportunities in foreign markets and
develop effective strategies to enter them (Lee and Wang, 2023); It allows companies to
manage better the risks associated with expansion and make informed strategic decisions.
JIC
26,1
130
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1469-1930.htm
Received 20 November 2023
Revised 3 April 2024
20 June 2024
15 October 2024
Accepted 14 November 2024
Journalof Intellectual Capital
Vol.26 No. 1, 2025
pp.130-151
©Emerald Publishing Limited
e-ISSN:1758-7468
p-ISSN:1469-1930
DOI10.1108/JIC-11-2023-0258
Studies have analyzed the relationship between intellectual capital and business
performance, financial performance and exports with a particular focus on the
manufacturing sector (Xu and Liu, 2020;Skhvediani et al., 2023;Liu et al., 2022;Rijesh,
2020;Mataveli et al., 2022;Lee and Wang, 2023), however the relation between intellectual
capital and business internationalization has not been explored deeply specially in Latin
America and Colombia.
In Colombia, few scholars have highlighted the relationship between intellectual capital in the
internationalization of businesses, based on the types of innovation, technology usage,
organizational aspects, company size and quality certifications (Moreno-G
omez et al., 2020), as
well as human capital, worker training, education (Hoyos-Villa, 2019) and family ownership
(Herrera-Echeverri et al., 2016). Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between
intellectual capital and its components (human, structural and relational) and the internationalization
of Colombian companies in the manufacturing sector, with a specific focus on exports. The data
utilized for this study was derived from the Survey of Technological Development and Innovation
(EDIT) 2017–2018 and involved 7,529 Colombian companies. To validate the hypotheses, a
discrete choice model of dichotomous response using a binomial logit model was employed. The
research question posed by this study is: What is the relationship between intellectual capital
(human, structural and relational) and business internationalization through exports?
The theoretical implications of this study are significant as it provides new empirical
evidence on the impact of intellectual capital and its components on the internationalization of
manufacturing companies in developing countries, and its relevance in firms’ export capacity,
contributing to the existing literature on international business and intellectual capital.
From a managerial perspective, the findings of this study are crucial for entrepreneurs’
decision-making processes at entering global markets. The research emphasizes the
importance of investing in human capital development, developing infrastructure to
generate value for the company and building meaningful relationships with stakeholders to
drive growth through exports (Ulubeyli and Yorulmaz, 2020;Korsakiene et al., 2017;Reza
et al., 2021;Zakery and Saremi, 2020).
This study also offers a foundational framework for policymakers and industrial
organizations to devise and execute policies that nurture the development of human capital
knowledge and skills, as well as encourage investment in technology and organizational
systems to drive innovation.
The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 outlines the literature review and hypothesis
formulation, Section 3 elaborates on the methodology,Section 4 demonstrates the findings and
Section 5 presents the discussion and conclusions.
Literature review
Intellectual capital
Intellectual capital has been studied for decades, Pedro et al. (2018) involve economic,
political, sociological and managerial development perspectives; Cabrita and Bontis (2008)
include the financial and accounting perspectives; Sharabati et al. (2010) consider that it can be
characterized by its focus on the efficiency of intangible resources such as knowledge-based
resources and capabilities, and Edvinsson and Sullivan (1996) define it as a stock of
information or knowledge that generates value without limiting it to technology or intellectual
property. It has also been defined from the perspective of the need to increase the company’s
competitive capacity and to obtain strategic advantages due to the intensive use of intangible
resources, mainly information and knowledge, trademarks and patents, organizational culture
and behavior-oriented towards excellence (Todericiu and St
anit
¸, 2015). It has allowed a new
economy more oriented to services than to production, in which organizations learn to improve
their knowledge (Bontis, 1998), leading to more people doing brain work instead of physical
work, which has more value for the company but does not appear on its balance sheet (Hashim
et al., 2015;Roos and Roos, 1997). It can also be understood as an intangible and soft driver of
Journal of
Intellectual
Capital
131
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