Examining the intellectual capital web reporting by Spanish universities
| Published date | 09 September 2019 |
| Date | 09 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2018-0048 |
| Pages | 775-798 |
| Author | Yolanda Ramirez,Elena Merino,Montserrat Manzaneque |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Examining the intellectual
capital web reporting by
Spanish universities
Yolanda Ramirez
Department of Business Administration,
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain
Elena Merino
Department of Business Administration,
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain, and
Montserrat Manzaneque
Department of Business Administration,
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to know the views of university stakeholders
concerning intellectual capital (IC) reporting; second, to examine the quality of voluntary IC disclosure by
public Spanish universities on their websites; and third, to analyze some of the potential factors affecting this
kind of disclosure.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper applies a content analysis and a survey. The content analysis
was used to analyze the websites of 50 public Spanish universities in the year 2016, while the survey
was submitted to all members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities. Also, a regression analysis
(ordinary least square model) is conducted to relate the disclosure index to its determinants.
Findings –The results of this study show that human capital was the most disclosed category with
relational capital being the least frequently disclosed. However, the quality of structural capital disclosures
was higher than relational and human capital. Moreover, the results show that size and university’s
internationality affect IC disclosure in Spanish public universities.
Practical implications –This paper stimulates the debate between universities and policy-makers
concerning the benefits related to IC reporting as a tool for addressing different stakeholders’needs. In order
to satisfy the information needs of university stakeholders, Spanish universities can be recommended to focus
on reporting higher quality information on financial relations, students’satisfaction, quality standard,
work-related knowledge/know-how and collaboration between universities and other organizations such as
firms, local government and society as a whole.
Originality/value –This research brings new expertise regarding IC disclosure in higher education and to
reveal some of the possible determinants to improve this disclosure.
Keywords Spain, Universities, Intellectual capital, Quality disclosure
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
European university institutions are currently immersed in a process of profound change
the intention of which is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of these
institutions with the aim of contributing to the development and improvement of the
competitiveness of the European economy (Ramírez et al., 2016). Some of the most significant
changes are: new methods for measuring the performance and efficiency of universities; the
creation of European-wide accreditation agencies; new assessment processes and systems to
ensure quality, which in turn strengthen transparency and accounting statements; the
institutionalization of new financing mechanisms; and reforms of national legislation to increase
the level of universities’independence and the implementation of new tools to improve
internal management. Given this situation, the information transparency of university
institutions acquires even greater significance. A need exists to conduct a profound reform and
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 5, 2019
pp. 775-798
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-02-2018-0048
Received 5 February 2018
Revised 17 September 2018
13 November 2018
Accepted 13 December 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
775
IC
web-reporting
by Spanish
universities
modernization of the university system concerning the presentation of information, which takes
into account the new information demands of its stakeholders.
It is useful to remember that accounting research is currently focused on the utility
paradigm, which stresses the need for accounting information to be truly relevant to good
decision making by its users. In this respect, in the framework for the presentation of accounting
information for higher education institutions, GASB 35 Basic Financial Statements –and
Management’s Discussion and Analysis –for Public Colleges and Universities highlighted the
need for supplying more useful information to the growing range of users, who, it was found;
hardly refer to financial reports (GASB, 1999, p. 25). The Spanish University Law (BOE, 2007)
establishes that “there exists a need to improve the quality of university systems, through a
culture of evaluation of universities services,”within the context of a full integration of the
Spanish higher education system into the European education area. Two main reasons for this
are (Murias et al., 2008): the increase in competition among universities in order to recruit
students and the new dynamism in the financing of these institutions. Also, at the national level
(Spain), the most important reference is that of the document on university funding presented by
the Ministry of Education at the Council of Universities on January 20, 2010, which calls for
university management teams to be more rigorous when they are presenting accounts.
Spanish universities need to provide more transparent information by way of an integrated
system facilitating immediate information to each agent according to their needs, thus allowing
them to make the best possible decisions (Council of University Coordination, 2010). However,
accountability in the public sector has traditionally been somewhat short-sighted since the tools
of transparency have always focused on financial and budget information (Martín and Moneva,
2009), ignoring other types of information such as data on the social responsibility of their
activities (Melle, 2007) or the key intangible elements in their value creation (Ramírez, 2010).
Public universities are a prime example of this, since the information provided focuses on
ensuring financial control of the organization without paying attention to the needs of other
groups of interest (Martín, 2006). While Gray (2006) considers that the information supplied in
traditional financial reports is not enough, highlighting the need to establish more extensive
communication and accountability mechanisms which take into account the needs of the
different groups of interest. Also, Coy et al. (2001) recommend extending the limits of
US universities’annual accounts and defend a new paradigm for the annual accounts which
provides more wide-ranging information on teaching and research, by including effort
indicators and achievements, with more attention being paid to the social responsibility of
institutions of higher education.
These information requirements, both those imposed by law and those derived from an
increase in demand by stakeholders, justify the need to examine the disclosure of
information by Spanish universities, including digital information. However, disclosure on
the internet has not been as well researched as other ways universities have for revealing
information, so that few studies have used an institutional website as the means for
assessing information disclosure (Gallego et al., 2011).
The goal of disclosure is to provide relevant, reliable and timely information to persons who
need to know the information so that they can make decisions concerning their relationship with
the organization (Rylander et al., 2000). Ideally, external reporting of an organization should
capture all intellectual capital (IC) information and this can then be monitored and reviewed by
the public (Guthrie et al., 2004). Most prior studies on intellectual disclosure have focused on
knowledge-intensive or services-based industries. However, in spite of its nature as producer
and supplier of knowledge, the university sector appears to have been largely overlooked
(Lowet al ., 2015).In addition, the in ternet is used widely on the behalf of public bodies as a way
to improve their relations with citizens, through greater disclosure of information and the
possibility of doing administrative business and paperwork online (Gallego et al., 2009).
However, recently most studies on the disclosure of information in universities have focused on
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