Intellectual capital in Spanish public universities: stakeholders' information needs
| Published date | 26 July 2011 |
| Date | 26 July 2011 |
| Pages | 356-376 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14691931111154689 |
| Author | Yolanda Ramírez Córcoles,Jesús F. Santos Peñalver,Ángel Tejada Ponce |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,HR & organizational behaviour,Information & knowledge management |
Intellectual capital in Spanish
public universities: stakeholders’
information needs
Yolanda Ramı
´rez Co
´rcoles
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain
Jesu
´s F. Santos Pen
˜alver
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain, and
A
´ngel Tejada Ponce
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to demonstrate the need for universities to include information on
intellectual capital in their accounting information system.
Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study was conducted to discover the extent to
which the different users of university accounting information are now demanding information
concerning intellectual capital in order to make the right decisions. To this end a questionnaire was
designed and sent to all the members of the Social Councils of Spain’s public universities.
Findings – The findings show the opinion of university accounting information users regarding the
need for universities to publish information on their intellectual capital in order to make the current
model of university accounting information more relevant.
Practical implications – The results of this research show the intangible elements about which
universities should provide information in order to satisfy their users’ new information demands.
Originality/value – No previous research in this area has been conducted for Spanish universities.
This paper brings new expertise regarding the traditional information supplied by universities, which
needs to be extended to include information on intellectual capital. Giving users access to a type of
information that is relevant for good decision-making constitutes a healthy exercise in transparency
for universities.
Keywords Intellectualcapital, Higher education institutions, Users, Informationneeds, Stakeholders,
Universities,Spain
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The current contextof the knowledge society means that theEuropean higher education
sector is facing a number of changes that directly affect the conceptualisation and
functioning of universities. The most important changes are listed as follows:
.Social changes – The appearance of the new demands and aspirations of various
stakeholders (for example, the business sector and society in general). Society
demands more detailed accounts, a justification of the use of public funding and
greater transparency of information.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
JIC
12,3
356
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 12 No. 3, 2011
pp. 356-376
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/14691931111154689
.Economic changes – Principally related in many countries to the decrease in
public funding of research and the growing competition from education offered
by companies. These “corporate universities” aim to contribute to the lifelong
learning of their own employees.
.Cultural changes – Owing to a new focus on knowledge production and the
implementation of new research methods.
.Political changes – They reflect a growing level of internationalisation of
education and research and the pressure which exists for a harmonisation of the
different national university systems with the “Bologna Process” and the
creation of the European Research Space.
In response to these challenges 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. 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 institutionalisation 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[1].
Given this situation the information transparency of university institutions acquires
even greater significance. A need exists to conduct a profound reform and
modernisation of the university system with regards to the presentation of information
that takes into account the new information demands of its users.
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 thisrespect, in the framework for the presentation of accountinginformation 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 (Governmental Accounting
Standards Board, 1999, p. 25). At national level (Spain) the most important reference is
that of the documenton university funding presentedby the Ministry of Educationat the
Council of Universitieson 20 January 2010, which calls for universitymanagement 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 (Martı
´n 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
IC in Spanish
public
universities
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