A history of intellectual capital measurements: from production to consumption
| Pages | 590-606 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-08-2015-0071 |
| Date | 11 July 2016 |
| Published date | 11 July 2016 |
| Author | Marco Giuliani,Maria Serena Chiucchi,Stefano Marasca |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management |
A history of intellectual capital
measurements: from production
to consumption
Marco Giuliani, Maria Serena Chiucchi and Stefano Marasca
Department of Management,
Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Abstract
Purpose –This paper has the ambition to enrich the extant research about the interplay between
measuring intellectual capital (IC) and managing IC or, more precisely, about the production and
consumption of IC measurements in practice. Stemming from these considerations, the purpose of this
paper is to disentangle the production and consumption processes of IC measurements in practice.
Design/methodology/approach –This study is based on a longitudinal case study is analysed
adopting an interventionist approach.
Findings –This study shows the peculiarities regarding the production and consumption of IC
measurements, from several perspectives. In particular, it emerges that thereporting of IC can, in some
specific contexts, lead to the non-use of IC measurements and to the disappearance of the measured object,
IC. Whatis questionableis whether it is the lossof interest in theIC object that has ledto the non-use of the
IC measurements or if it is thenon-consumption of themeasurements and theirqualities that has implied
the disappearance of themeasurement object.In addition, this studysheds a light on the factthat in an IC
project the consumption of the measurements can occur not only at the end of the production process, but
also (and may be especially) during the production process itself. This consumption can generate different
effects such as the identification of new managerial objects, the establishment of new initiatives, the
development of a deeper knowledge about how IC works or a change of the sense of some of th eex isting
measurements. In all, the paper underlines the fact that how IC measurements are produced (the process
followed and the “actors”involved) affects their actual consumption (or non-consumption).
Research limitations/implications –This paper contributes to the extant literature regarding the
production andconsumption of IC measurements. Moreover,it contributes to the field of IC “in practice”
as it highlights what happens when an IC measurement system is implemented. Finally, the research
work can contributeboth to the studies regarding IC as an accounting changeand to the ones regarding
IC as a tool thatfacilitates organizationalchange. From the first perspective,the paper highlightshow the
introduction of IC has fostered long-lasting changes in the management accounting system, albeit
circumscribed to the local (departmental) level. From the second perspective, the paper shows how IC
may allow the creation of new managerial objects, thus promoting possible new actions. The main
limitations of this study arerelated to the methodology adopted and to its specific pros and cons.
Originality/value –In comparison to previous studies, this one does not focus only on the managerial
and organizational aspects related to the design and implementation of IC measurements or on their
actual use, but attempts to approach them simultaneously adopting a longitudinal view. Moreover, this
study does not adopt a theoretical perspective on how the indicators are designed and consumed but is
aimed at investigating how these indicators are produced and consumed “in practice”. Finally, this
study focus on the interplay between production and consumption of indicators, i.e. on the use of IC
measurements in relation to the peculiarities of their production process.
Keywords Production, Intellectual capital, Indicators, Measurements, Consumption, Use
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Measuring intellectual capital (IC) seems to be an on-going challenge for accountant
as in the last decades, several discussions have been brought forward by scholars and
practitioners in an attempt to define how IC should be measured (Gut hrie et al., 2001, 2012).
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 17 No. 3, 2016
pp. 590-606
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/JIC-08-2015-0071
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
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JIC
17,3
Some argue that the problems related to measuring IC can be due to the fact that IC is a
multi-dimensional magmatic concept, to the lack of appropriate measurement tools, to
the fact that it was pushed forward in an effort to include accountants as well as
non-accountants or to the lack of an adequate number of field analyses (Dumay, 2013;
Gröjer, 2001; Guthrie et al., 2012; Johanson and Henningsson, 2007; Mouritsen, 2009;
Roslender and Fincham, 2001).
Analysing the extant literature, it is possible to identify studies devoted to the
analysis of the production of IC measurements while others dedicated to their
“consumption”, i.e. to their “actual use”, or to their “meaningful social exchange”(Bay
et al., 2014; Graham, 2008). More in depth, while it is possible to identify several
attempts of defining how IC measurements should be produced, i.e. designed and
implemented, less effort has been made to understand what the actual consumption of
IC measurements is in practice (Catasús et al., 2007; Catasús and Gröjer, 2006;
Chaminade and Roberts, 2003; Chiucchi and Dumay, 2015; Dumay, 2009; Giuliani,
2013b, 2015b; Giuliani and Marasca, 2011; Johanson et al., 2001a; Mouritsen, 2009).
In addition, most of the contributions to the IC discourse tend to focus only on one of
the two aspects, i.e. on the production or on the consumption: consequently, the use of
IC measurements in relation to the peculiarities of their production process still remains
an under-investigated issue (Chiucchi, 2013b; Chiucchi and Dumay, 2015; Chiucchi and
Montemari, 2016; Giuliani, in press). In other words, it seems that within the IC
discourse the old problem emerges again: understanding how reality is translated into
numbers and how these numbers affect and construct reality (Hines, 1988; Hopwood
and Miller, 1994; Potter, 2005).
Moving from these considerations, this paper has the ambition to enrich the
extant research about the interplay between measuring IC and managing IC or,
more precisely, about the production and consumption of IC measurements in practice.
Stemming from these considerations, the aim of this paper is to disentangle the
production and consumption processes of IC measurements in practice. In order to
achieve this aim, the paper reports “a history”of IC measurements, i.e. a longitudin al
field analysis about the production and consumption of IC measurements developed
adopting an interventionist approach.
The paper starts with an overview of the extant literature regarding IC
measurement and management. The next section presents the design of the study
and the description of the investigated case study. In the central part, an attempt will be
made to make sense out of the case findings and to develop the theoretical arguments of
the study. The paper ends by presenting some of the insights gained and some of the
conclusions drawn, and proposing future research opportunities.
2. Production and consumption of IC measurements: the state of the art
The development of a measurement system traditionally consists in a phase of
production and in a phase of consumption (Bourne et al., 2000; Ferreira and Otley, 2009;
Neely and Bourne, 2000; Otley, 1999).
Within the former phase (production), it is possible to identify two steps: the design
and the implementation. The design actually has to do with the process of deciding what
to measure and it encompasses the actual design of the measures. The implementation
occurs when the designed system is put into place in a particular organizational setting
and data are collected and processed. These two phases are the ones devoted to the
productionof accounting, that recalls the idea of accountingas a useful means to produce
a true and fair representation of stocks and flows (Roslender and Fincham, 2004).
591
History of IC
measurements
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