Identifying future directions for IC research in education: a literature review
| Published date | 08 January 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-10-2017-0133 |
| Pages | 10-33 |
| Date | 08 January 2018 |
| Author | Marco Bisogno,John Dumay,Francesca Manes Rossi,Paolo Tartaglia Polcini |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,HR & organizational behaviour,Organizational structure/dynamics,Accounting & Finance,Accounting/accountancy,Behavioural accounting |
Identifying future directions for
IC research in education: a
literature review
Marco Bisogno
Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno,
Fisciano, Italy
John Dumay
Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University,
Sydney, Australia
Francesca Manes Rossi
Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno,
Fisciano, Italy, and
Paolo Tartaglia Polcini
University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
Abstract
Purpose –It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing the
state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in this special issue on IC in education.
The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach –This research uses the structured literature to investigate the state-of-
the-art and future directions of IC literature in education. In total, 47 articles are explored including nine from
this special issue.
Findings –IC in education research is concentrated in Europe and mainly addresses IC in universities.
Additionally, current IC research is progressing by examining IC practices inside universities using a
third-stage IC approach, with new research also concentrating on third-mission outcomes, thus there is scope
to continue IC and education research beyond universities. IC in education can also expand into fifth stage IC
research, which abandons the boundaries of the educational institution and concentrate on the impact of
IC and education on multiple stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications –Current IC in education research is too narrow and mainly
investigates IC in European contexts using case study methodology. However, there is ample scope to widen
research that develops new frameworks in different educational and country contexts using a wider range of
research methodologies. IC in education needs to expand its boundaries so it does not lose its relevance, and
thus be able to contribute to wider policy debates.
Originality/value –This paper presents the current state-of-the-art structured literature review of the
articles investigating IC in education.
Keywords Universities, Schools, Intellectual capital, Education, Structured literature review,
Research centres
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing
the state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in this edition.
Furthermore, while individual articles offer further recommendations for research,
by examining the state-of-the-art gaps relating to the big picture of IC education research
can be identified and highlighted to offer new research opportunities. The review also
answers Dumay et al.’s (2015) call to synthesise the existing research on IC in education.
For the purposes of this review, education spans schools, universities, research centres, or
any higher institute that offers education services. By investigating how researchers
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 19 No. 1, 2018
pp. 10-33
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/JIC-10-2017-0133
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
10
JIC
19,1
conceptualise and discuss IC in education, this review explores how concepts, theories,
methodologies, and academic thinking have developed since inception. From this
foundation, research gaps can be identified to inspire promising directions for future
scholarly endeavours in this important field.
Contemporary interest in IC education research stems from the significant role intangible
resources play in schools, universities, and research centres. After all, their inputs and
outputs are mainly intangible (Cañibano and Sánchez, 2008). But further, education helps to
grow social capital within a community –a role that is particularly important for
universities (Mowery and Sampat, 2005). While IC is typically associated with private and
listed companies, evidence of its usefulness for education providers can be found in several
IC projects. For example, in Austria, universities were restructured to increase autonomy,
re-orient outputs, and base funding on performance as a result of “new public management”
principles, and this led to the mandatory adoption of IC reporting (Habersam et al., 2013).
The aim was to support the management of intangible resources and provide stakeholders
with adequate information about the development and productive use of IC (Leitner, 2004).
However, even though Austrian universities hav e adopted mandator y reporting,
other jurisdictions have not followed suit. Consequently, the focus on IC in education is
increasing (Bezhani, 2010; Veltri and Silvestri, 2015; Ramírez-Córcoles and Gordillo, 2014;
Secundo et al., 2015).
Each piece of research has a different purpose and uses different methodological
approaches. Therefore, there is a need to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses in a
body of literature and, possibly, unearth areas that have been neglected. As Dumay et al.
(2015, p. 277) point out, there is “an opportunity for a study to synthesise the findings”
because researchers must “ensure that future research is informed about the contributions
made by previous researchers and outline the frameworks already proposed to test their
applicability in practice”. Since Dumay et al.’s(2015) public sector review, several more
articles have been published, along with the articles included in this special issue, widening
the depth and breadth of IC in education research. Therefore, continuing this research
specifically focussing on education presents an opportunity to complement this special issue
with a state-of-the-art literature review up to and including the articles appearing in this
special issue.
This paper follows the structured literature review (SLR) methodology outlined by
Massaro et al. (2016) and builds upon a sub-set of the data presented in Dumay et al. (2015).
We used Alvesson and Deetz’s (2000) critical management framework to analyse the
collection with three critical research questions in mind:
RQ1. How is IC education research developing?
RQ2. What is the focus and critique of IC education research literature?
RQ3. What is the future of IC education research?
The paper is organised into three further sections. The next section presents the SLR.
Section 3 answers RQ1 and RQ2. Section 4 concludes the paper by answering RQ3, along
with the paper’s limitations.
2. Methodology
A literature review is a research method that connects past knowledge to future research
directions by examining theories or by summarising particular issues (Petticrew and
Roberts, 2008; Transfield et al., 2003; Massaro et al., 2016). The wider availability of
academic articles and the plethora of approaches used within them means literature reviews
are evolving. Massaro et al. (2016, p. 769) described a “literature review continuum”that
ranges from a rapid review with few rules to an SLR with specific rules. The latter approach
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Future
directions for
IC research in
education
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