Narrow Results

Inconsistent results of the impacts of intellectual capital (IC) investments on firm performance have raised question regarding the pros and cons of IC investments. However, analyzing the relationship between IC and firm performance from a nonlinear perspective remains under-researched. Hence, this paper aims to examine whether IC investments have a nonlinear relationship with firm performance. This study also examines the interaction effects of IC components on firm performance. We undertake the data that ranges from 2009–2022 on Malaysian public listed firms. The study separates the data into two periods, one without COVID-19 impact (2009–2018) and the other with COVID-19 impact (2019–2022), to examine the potential impact of IC to firm performance with and without the presence of COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilizes panel data regression method to analyze the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that the relationship between IC components and firm performance is nonlinear when COVID-19 is not present, but this relationship changes in the presence of COVID-19 impact. That is, although continuous IC investments can be a safe investment strategy, their positive impacts on firm performance lose initial strength after a certain critical level of IC investments. Based on the findings, Malaysian public listed firms need to have skilled and intellectual labor force to support the transition from labor intensive industries to knowledge-intensive industries. Moreover, tangible investments play a contributing role in intangible investments. Managers should be careful in investing both physical and financial resources as their marginal costs may outweigh marginal benefits. Overall, this study is helpful to the managers and policy makers in deciding the optimal level of IC investments. The advice can also be taken with respect to combinations of elements of IC.

This paper investigates the effects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) on financial performance and the moderating effect of intellectual capital (IC) on the relationship between ESG and financial performance. The study performs panel data analysis on data collected from 2,956 manufacturing companies listed on the A-share index of the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges from 2018 to 2021. Regression results indicate that ESG and management initiatives in implementing ESG have a significant and negative impact on financial performance, whereas the management initiative to control controversial events exerts a significant and positive impact. Investing in ESG and IC at the same time without proper resource allocation will exacerbate the increase in costs and thus reduce financial performance. Companies in the manufacturing sector should therefore consider the challenges and opportunities related to ESG and IC investments. Regulatory frameworks may encourage these companies to align their sustainability and IC strategies, which involve upfront costs. This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between ESG and financial performance by considering IC as moderator in the context of Chinese manufacturing companies.

This paper researches a method of rating competitiveness involving the estimation of the performance of semiconductor firms through Malmquist productivity index (MPI) and metafrontier Malmquist productivity index (MMPI). Regressions are used to find the relationship between intellectual capital and performance. Overall, technological innovations contribute to the improvement in the integrated circuit (IC) design sub-industry while increases in efficient production allow the IC foundry sub-industry and the IC packaging and testing sub-industry to maintain position. The regression results show human capital was critical to technological innovation while relational capital was important to efficient production.

Much of the prior research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has focused on its determinants. This paper attempts to extend a point of view by which the EO allows to grasp the internal and external organizational conditions in order to update its business opportunities and innovate (Aloulou and Fayolle, 2005). The study examines the link between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation intensity through intellectual capital in a turbulent context. Research features were drawn in the light of the literature review and access to the ground. After stimulating the debate on the EO phenomenon and ensuring a critical revisit of its approach, the empirical basis was formed by 155 questionnaire surveys among industrial companies active in Tunisia. The mediating role of intellectual capital and the moderating role of environmental turbulence are highlighted while detecting the context specificities. Analysis reveals important contributions in the management research field.

The failure ratio of new ventures across the globe pushes researchers towards finding solutions, but the response is not effective. This research project surveyed 297 new manufacturing enterprises from China to find factors that significantly contribute to the success of new ventures. The results indicated that intellectual capital significantly sustains performance and sustainable competitive advantage in new ventures. The relationship between intellectual capital and new venture performance is partially mediated by a sustainable competitive advantage. Information technology capabilities do not positively impact new venture performance and competitiveness. Entrepreneurial orientation has a significant influence on differentiation strategy and new venture performance. Sustainable competitive advantage does not mediate the path between entrepreneurial orientation and new venture performance, but it fully mediates the association between market orientation and new venture performance. This study recommends that new enterprises focus on intellectual capital, entrepreneurial orientation, and market orientation to acquire a sustainable position in the competitive market. New ventures should also evaluate their technological capabilities to understand why they do not play a vital role. Further implications have been stated.

This study used dynamic data envelopment analysis (dynamic DEA) to evaluate the operating performance of life insurance companies in Taiwan and China. In addition, this study adopted panel data regression, which employs the cross-section and time-series approaches, to investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on operating performance. The results indicated that the overall performance of life insurance companies in China was better than that of life insurance companies in Taiwan. Furthermore, in both countries, the performance of life insurance companies with local capital was better than that of companies with foreign capital. The results also showed that human capital (HC) and structural capital (SC) had impacts on the operating performance of life insurance companies. The potential applications and strengths of DEA in assessing the life insurance industries in Taiwan and China are highlighted.

This paper compares the perceptions of private and public sector managers in regard to knowledge management (KM), using data derived from a survey conducted in Australia. The objective is to develop understanding of the current practice to assist in developing strategies to improve public sector KM practice. Findings revealed that public sector respondents in Australia had a less developed understanding in KM and intellectual capital (IC), as compared to the private sector respondents. This poorer understanding had led to a much weaker KM practice in the public sector: KM initiatives were not commonly addressed at the strategic level; employees were less trained and developed; few measurement systems were developed and almost no incentive and reward measures were established. In addition, public sector respondents were less confident about the roles of organisational culture, organisational structure and IT in KM in their organisation. They had lower agreement on the role of organisational structure, culture and IT as knowledge creation and sharing facilitators. The study, to a certain extent, supports the proposition that industrial context has an effect on managers' perceptions of KM.

As we have moved into the knowledge economy, many organizations have invested in knowledge management initiatives. A great deal of the focus of these initiatives has been on the technological aspects of knowledge management with many organizations implementing knowledge management systems utilizing various technologies. As these technologies have moved to common use in these organizations, there has been the opportunity to use them to manage more than pure knowledge.

The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which knowledge management technologies are being used to manage intellectual capital. It identifies eight main groupings of knowledge management technologies that are examined in the context of the core elements of intellectual capital — human capital, customer capital and relationship capital. Based on the type of technology used, the research examines whether it is more or less likely to succeed in managing the different elements of intellectual capital. In the case of all three areas of intellectual capital we show that knowledge management technologies are used successfully.

The results of the research illustrate which technologies are more effective in managing intellectual capital taking organizational size into consideration. It adds to the growing body of knowledge by illustrating the value of knowledge management initiatives beyond the scope of the predominant perception of how knowledge management tools are used.

This paper attempts to highlight a key source of intangible value (i.e., intellectual capital) for family-based businesses. By reviewing the merger and acquisition activity of four Mexican cases, an analysis of the consideration of various intangible assets is conducted. Consequently, we introduce the term intellectual capital in family businesses (ICFB) and define it as a sum of a set of quantitative and qualitative intangible assets affecting overall business performance. A metaphor for diagnosing the qualitative intangible assets for family businesses is then suggested encompassing a firm's soul (human capital), brain (structural capital) and heart (relational capital).

Though it had earlier antecedents, the concept of Knowledge Management (KM), as we now know it, evolved as a concept in the late 1980s. The term originated in the consulting community. It arose from the merger of two factors: the recognition of the importance to an organisation of its information and knowledge assets, and from the emergence of the Internet and the almost immediate recognition of the utility of the Internet as an information and knowledge sharing tool, particularly for geographically dispersed organisations. KM has gone through four stages:

(1) An emphasis upon the new technology and upon the development of "best practices" or "lessons learned".

(2) An increased recognition of human and cultural factors, and upon the development of "communities of practice" to facilitate the sharing of information.

(3) An increased recognition of the importance of designing the systems for retrievability, and the importance of data design and structure, including taxonomy development and utilisation.

(4) An emphasis upon extending KM systems beyond the parent organisation to include, for example, vendors and suppliers, customers, users, alumni, etc.

KM has exhibited remarkable staying power and growth in a fashion that is dramatically different from all other business enthusiasms of the late 20th century.

Intellectual assets are strategic resources that libraries can use to add value to services, but their intangible attributes make them hard to evaluate. An exploratory case study used document analysis, interviews and a questionnaire to develop and test indicators of intellectual assets and related performance measures at three university libraries in Thailand. The study demonstrated the feasibility of applying an intellectual capital perspective and a scorecard process model to design a workable system for evaluating library intangibles, particularly where libraries have a pre-existing interest in knowledge management and a culture of assessment.

This empirical study examines the intellectual capital (IC) performance of Hong Kong companies and its association with business performance. Data were collected from constituent companies of the Hang Seng Index listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2005–2008). An IC measurement, Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC^TM), was utilised to evaluate the IC investment of the companies.

Four accounting ratios: market-to-book value (MB), return on assets (ROA), asset turnover (ATO) and return on equity (ROE) were used as the indicators of business performance. Regression analyses were conducted to test the ability of IC and its components in order to explain the variance in business performance measures.

No conclusive evidence was found to support the associations between VAIC^TM as an aggregate measure and the four financial indicators. However, components of VAIC^TM were found to predict a substantial variance in business performance. Capital Employed Efficiency (CEE) was found to be a key factor in predicting business financial performance. Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE) was found to have a significant effect on businesses' market valuation, as measured by MB, and on profitability, as measured by ROE. Negative correlations were found between Human Capital Efficiency (HCE) and the financial indicators. The findings indicate a gap between the traditional accounting perspective and the value creation perspective, which is central to the VAIC^TM methodology in measuring IC.

It is believed that the findings of this research provide insights for business stakeholders of Hong Kong companies in utilising IC, particularly the noted impact of structural capital. While our findings indicate the importance of IC for corporations, as shown by the significant effect of SCE on ROE, physical and financial assets may still be considered as the key resources in delivering business success.

In 2002, Tom Wilson argued about knowledge management (KM) "that the bandwagon lacks wheels". In the same issue of the same journal, Leonard Ponzi and Michael Koenig posited that KM was perhaps "in the process of establishing itself as a new aspect of management". Who was correct? This article examines bibliographic evidence to conclude that the latter interpretation was correct, that KM has firmly established itself as a major, and to the extent that permanence can be established in this rapidly changing world, permanent component of management. It then argues that the reasons for KM's permanence all fundamentally derive from the common sense of KM.

In today's knowledge-based society, discussion on intellectual capital (IC) has become intertwined with knowledge management (KM). KM may be viewed as the activities and processes to create and maximise IC. It may be possible to suggest that an organisation's level of knowledge utilisation is associated with its level of intellectual capital. The purpose of this research was to explore whether there is an association between KM maturity level, as a proxy of assessing the level of KM efficacy and IC utilisation efficiency in companies listed on CSI 100 (China Securities Index Co., Ltd.) in mainland China. A self-assessment of KM maturity level, developed based on the KM self-assessment framework proposed by Collison and Parcell, was used to gauge the knowledge utilisation of an organisation. The intellectual capital efficiency coefficient (ICE), component of the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™), was used to assess the efficiency of intellectual capital. Overall, 26 questionnaires were collected from the surveyed organisations to evaluate their level of KM, which accounted for 25% of the sample. Finally, correlation analysis with SPSS was performed to examine if there was a correlation between ICE and the maturity level of KM in the sampled companies in mainland China. The results showed that the association between the two variables was not statistically significant. In fact, no conclusive evidence was found to support an association between efficiency of utilising intellectual capital, and KM maturity score. The lack of an association may suggest that there may be other intervening variables yet to be identified in the relationship between KM and IC. This study is an attempt to explore the above assertion and to conduct empirical studies in studying their applicability in China, one of the fastest growing economies in the world. While we are not seeking to generalise the results, it may serve as a good reference for further studies in examining the intricate "relationship" between IC and KM, that is, linking a process view of KM to the measurement of value creating intangibles of a corporation epitomised by IC.

Mass media is the key influencer of public opinion. The influence is not only limited to political and social, but also relates to organisational and economical reputation and brands. Within public opinion, organisations must manage how they are represented competitively within mass media so that they can develop their brand strategically to grow and compete in the current global knowledge economy. This is where the link to Intellectual Capital (IC) Measurement is significant. IC, as the sum of all an organisation's intangible assets drives a company's presence and value within the media, albeit related to human, structural or relational capital attributes. The measurement, therefore, of IC in the mass media context is invaluable to understand how a company is placed strategically and competitively in the external space, and how this links to internal activities, goals and outcomes. This paper is an attempt to address some of the issues related to IC measurements in the mass media context by suggesting a framework that provides a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to the understanding and contextualising of the organisation's presence in the public space.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of intellectual capital investment in improving the firm's market value, stakeholders' value and financial performance. Using data drawn from 21 listed companies in Tunisia Stock Exchange, we conducted two studies. On one hand, from using Charreaux (Charreaux (2006). La valeur partenariale: Vers une mesure opérationnelle. Cahier de FARGO no. 1061103, November) measure of stakeholders' value, we demonstrate that financials come to present the weakest stakeholders' value and clients monopolises in term of value acquisition due to a weak ability of negotiation of firms. On the other hand, we construct a regression model of Pulic's value added intellectual capital investment (VAIC) as the measure of the value added from intellectual capital, in market valuation and financial performance. Our results stressed the fact that there is a positive impact of intellectual capital by human capital efficiency and capital employed efficiency on improving firm's market value. Nevertheless, financial performance measured by ROA is still justified by the traditional measure relying on capital employed efficiency. Indeed for Tunisian quoted firms, human capital investment is a pilar for ameliorating firm market valuation of financial performance.

Healthcare organisations are knowledge-based establishments. At a healthcare organisation, computer-based information systems (ISs) are powerful tools for improving care using decision support such as patient health data recording, storing, delivery and retrieval. This study investigates the physicians' perspective for the success of ISs, and the relationships between the users' satisfactions and intellectual capital. We adopted a questionnaire survey for the purpose of outcome assessment and the correlations among each dimension, from a sample of 181 physicians in Taiwan's international medical service centres. The results indicate that IS success is significantly related to intellectual capital. With regard to IS quality, system quality has no significant effects on information quality and patients' privacy protection. This research provides empirical evidence to evaluate IS success in healthcare organisations and suggestions for how to promote physicians using knowledge management systems.

One of the fundamental features of enterprises' supremacy over one another, particularly in SMEs, is intangible assets and their intellectual capital (IC). Varieties of approaches to assessing and evaluating enterprises' intellectual capital have far been offered. None of them, however, has been considered in the face of qualitative indicators and their synthesis and quantitative indicators, as well as accounting the failure to have access to evidence during evaluation. In this article, a framework for the assessment of intellectual capital is offered by using an evidential reasoning approach developed based on a hierarchical model and Dempster–Shafer (D–S) theory of evidence. The explanation of this framework is accompanied by its application in the assessment of intellectual capital of SMEs in the field of IT in one of Iran's regions.

The main aim of this study is to demonstrate how important it is for Spanish public universities to provide information on their intellectual capital in order to satisfy their users' information needs. To this end, we analysed the opinion held by the members of the Social Councils regarding the need for Spanish public universities to publish information on their intellectual capital when presenting economic, financial and budgetary information. The results of this research show extensive criticism of the current accounting information model used by public universities in Spain. They also demonstrate a widespread interest in universities including information on their intellectual capital with a view to increasing the relevance of the current university financial statements.

This paper analyzes two different approaches to assessing the knowledge assets of multiple firms in a given industry. Typically, in evaluating knowledge management (KM) results by measuring intellectual capital (IC), studies in the field have looked specifically at individual firms or a small cluster of organisations. Measuring a large number of firms has proven more of a challenge even though the discipline has some established metrics to do so, principally those using some variation of Tobin's q. In moving such methodologies forward, we look at two variations on Tobin's q for assessing KM requirements in an industry and the relative level of KM success in member firms. We contrast different industries with apparently different KM circumstances, allowing some deeper insights into the strengths and weaknesses of our two metrics. These results will be of interest to those studying KM and IC as they provide guidance in evaluating performance (as well as the need to invest in order to keep up with industry top performers). For the same reason, the results and methodology will inform practitioners taking a strategic approach to knowledge investment, giving them a way to assess relative standing within and across industries. KM strategies can and should differ, and these metrics provide guidance for such decisions.