Intellectual capital and business model: a systematic literature review to explore their linkages
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-02-2020-0055 |
| Published date | 16 October 2020 |
| Date | 16 October 2020 |
| Pages | 653-679 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,HR & organizational behaviour,Organizational structure/dynamics,Accounting & finance,Accounting/accountancy,Behavioural accounting |
| Author | Gabriele Baima,Canio Forliano,Gabriele Santoro,Demetris Vrontis |
Intellectual capital and business
model: a systematic literature
review to explore their linkages
Gabriele Baima
Department of Management, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
Canio Forliano
Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Palermo,
Palermo, Italy
Gabriele Santoro
Department of Management, University of Torino, Torino, Italy, and
Demetris Vrontis
School of Business, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract
Purpose –In the last decades, business and management scholars have given great attention to intellectual
capital (IC), which could seem a mature topic, having arrived at its third wave of studies. However, its
intersections with the business model (BM) remain an under-investigated topic, and the authors wanted to
investigate two research questions (RQs): how the literature addressing IC and BM has evolved so far in the
business and management domains? What are possible future research trends of business and management
studies regarding IC and BM?
Design/methodology/approach –This study answers these questions through a systematic literature
review (SLR) of 74 peer-reviewed articles in the area of business and management. First, a bibliometric analysis
was conducted to evaluate what is the current trend of such publications and what are the most relevant
articles, authors, countries and journals. Then, a content analysis was performed to aggregate and systematize
the results and identify future lines of research.
Findings–Results show that most of the studies conducted to date are focused on the aspects of value creation
and value capture, with a primary focus on investigating the relationship between IC and firms’performances
(e.g. economic, financial and organizational).
Originality/value –The relationship between IC and BM has been quite neglected by the literature, or at least
it leaves room for further research lines. For example, little is known about how firms use the various IC assets
to leverage new forms of value proposition, new target markets or new sources of revenues. This is one of the
first papers systematizing the current body of knowledge on this topic and drawing future lines of research.
Keywords Business model, Intellectual capital, Value capture, Value creation
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
Intellectualcapital (IC) is considered a key intangibleasset for firms (Schiavone et al.,2014). It
has been approachedfrom several theoreticalperspectives and angles(Gr€
ojer, 2001;Mouritsen
et al.,2001;Giac osa etal.,2017), leadingto a plethora of proposed concepts, methodsand tools
(Mouritsen et al.,2001;Chaminade and Roberts, 2003). Although it cannot be revealed
accurately in companies’financial statements, it reflects their real value and is based on the
knowledge owned and used by them (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998;Ferraris et al., 2018;Usai
et al., 2018;Garcia-Perez et al.,2020). IC has been proposed as one of the most relevantdrivers of
growth and key capital in entrepreneurial development over time (Halberstadt et al., 2019).
Overall, studies found a significant positive relationship between financial performance of
firms and intellectual value-added, IC efficiency, relational capital efficiency, human capital
efficiency and structural capital efficiency (Salehi et al.,2014). As a consequence, it is well
established thatIC affects firm performance positivelyand provides competitive advantages.
Intellectual
capital and
business model
653
Received 28 February 2020
Revised 13 July 2020
11 September 2020
Accepted 16 September 2020
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 22 No. 3, 2021
pp. 653-679
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/JIC-02-2020-0055
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1469-1930.htm
Despite this, there are not so many studies that take into account IC and its effect on and
the relationship with the business model (BM). In this regard, whereas BM has been used as a
means to create value in a business (Foss and Saebi, 2018;Franceschelli et al., 2018), business
model innovation (BMI) refers to planned, novel and innovative changes to the fundamental
features of the firm’s BM and/or the structural design linking these elements (Foss and Saebi,
2018). Moreover, it is also referred to as the way in which the firm collaborates at strategic and
operational levels in order to bring products and/or services to the market (Bouwman et al.,
2018;Forliano et al., 2020).
Previously, most literature in the field of BMs focused on their structural features and
assumed a static relationship among their various elements (Demil and Lecocq, 2010). More
recently, however, researchers have underlined the need for a holistic perspective that
incorporatesinnovationin the elements involvedin the value generationand deliveryprocesses
(Zott et al.,2011 ;Massaet al.,2017).Indeed, fundamentalchanges in the relationship betweenthe
BM elements can lead to a higher level of BMI (Bj€
orkdahl, 2009).Studies that consider IC as a
vital source of BM have mostly focused on the value capture side of the BM framework
(Bukowitzand Petrash, 1997;Salehiet al., 2014). Despite this,less effort has been directedwhen
consideringBM through a holistic lensor considering other BM components apart from value
capture (Beattie and Smith, 2013). For example, little is known about how firms used the
different IC assets to leverage new forms of value proposition, new target markets or new
sources of revenues. This means unveiling how the vital components of IC may contribute to
innovative products, services and content for existing and new targets. These changes
representthe core of BMI and are consideredkey drivers of sustainablecompetitiveadvantages
in thecurrent era affectedby globalized markets(Del Giudice et al., 2019;Santoro et al., 2019a,b).
In other terms,the literature thatdeals with the relationship between IC and value byexplicitly
using the BM concept is fragmented and mostly focused on the value capture side. This is
strange considering that companies that have achieved global success with sustainable and
innovative BMshave mainly exploited IC. For example, global high-tech giants not only base
their strategyon powerful technologiesbut particularly on unique andinimitable forms of IC,
suchas the power of relationships,digitalnetworks, humancapital and the abilityto experiment
withcreative solutionsto innovate the BM in an agile way. Therefore,from a theoreticalpoint of
view, it is necessaryto understand what literature has offeredso far; whereas, from a practical
point of view,it is essential to offermanagerial insights onhow IC can be exploited to innovate
BMs with reference to value propositions, channels, networks and targets.
As a consequence, this paper aims at exploring the relationships between IC and BM. In
order to do this, the present research builds on the systematic literature review (SLR)
methodology, to trace what is known on this topic and to propose future lines of research
based on the gaps found.
Overall, results of the SLR indicate that most of the studies conducted so far focus on the
aspects of value creation and value capture, with a primary focus on investigating the
relationship between IC and firms’performances (e.g. economic, financial and organizational).
These findings contribute to the literature on IC by offering a wide and precise picture of how
IC and its main types represent key factors in building a sustainable BM. This is done by
systematizing what the literature has found until now. Moreover, the paper contributes to the
young stream on BM, reviewing the literature on how IC may represent a vital source on
competitive advantage and presenting future lines on research regarding how IC is essential
for innovating BMs.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section describes the main
concepts behind this research, namely IC and BM. Section three explains the research
methodology regarding the procedures of the SLR used in this study. Section four shows the
research findings, while the last section concludes discussing the gap found and proposing
future lines of research.
JIC
22,3
654
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