Trabalho Gratuito

• Journals

• Books

• Sign in

• Help

• Opens in a new window. Article suggestions will be shown in a dialog on return to ScienceDirect. Download PDF

•

Other export options

• More options...

Advanced search

Article outline

Show full outline

• Summary

• Keywords

• Introduction

• Definition of intellectual capital

• Intellectual capital valuation models

• The three pillars of intellectual capital

• Adjusted residual income model

• Data collection and statistical analysis

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• Limitations and future research

• References

• Vitae

________________________________________

Figures and tables

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

European Management Journal

Volume 32, Issue 2, April 2014, Pages 244–259

Measuring intellectual capital with financial figures: Can we predict firm profitability?

• Renato Sydlera, , ,

• Stefan Haefligerb,

• Robert Pruksac

Show more

DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2013.01.008

Get rights and content

________________________________________

Summary

The measurement of intellectual capital (IC) is a highly discussed topic within the field of knowledge management. This paper presents a method for measuring IC to quantitatively assess whether IC supports the knowledge-based view of the firm that explains long-term differences in firm profitability. We systematically examine the landscape of IC valuation methods applied and addressed in the literature, and we extend one model by selecting monetary proxies for human, structural and relational capital. The paper presents a longitudinal panel data regression using 69 publicly traded pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The observation period of the panel is determined to last from the fiscal year 2002 until 2009. Our results show that IC-creating expenses indeed generate IC assets in a subsequent year and that an increase in IC is associated with a higher return on assets over time. With our results, we can also show not only that all three factors independently lead to the creation of IC but also, more importantly, their interaction. We present implications for knowledge management theory and practice. This paper presents a new way to assess the IC using easy accessible data and to verify its impact on firm performance. Furthermore, it provides a tool for managers to calculate the value of a company’s IC directly and judge its impact on firm performance. This allows managers to allocate resources to knowledge assets critical to IC that may translate into sustained competitive advantage.

________________________________________

Highlights

► Human, structural and relational capital independently lead to the creation of IC. ► This paper presents a new way to assess the IC using easy accessible data. ► This paper verifies the impact of IC on firm performance. ► This research shows that IC is associated with a higher return on assets over time. ► Managers are provided with a tool to calculate the value of a company’s IC.

Keywords

• Intellectual capital;

• Knowledge-based view of the firm;

• Performance

________________________________________

Introduction

According to the resource-based view of the firm, building a sustainable competitive advantage to maintaining above-average profitability requires a company to create and maintain strategic resources (Peteraf, 1993 and Wernerfelt, 1984). According to Amit and Schoemaker (1993), the specific type, magnitude and nature of these strategic resources determine a firm’s profitability. Barney (1991) argues that a firm’s resources must be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and substitute so that the firm can generate a sustained competitive advantage.

According to this theoretical model, knowledge is perceived as a firm’s main resource (Spender & Grant, 1996) and fulfills all the required attributes proposed by Barney (1991). This idea led to the extension of the knowledge-based view of the firm (Grant, 1996 and Nonaka, 1991), with scholars claiming that how a firm creates, transfers and uses its knowledge impacts its performance and therefore its ability to compete within an industry (Grant, 1996 and Nonaka, 1994).

When knowledge is perceived as a firm’s main resource (Spender & Grant, 1996) its creation is critical for firm performance and competitive advantage (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) and can be fostered in different ways. First, a company can dedicate significant resources to research and development to create knowledge that can be integrated into a firm’s processes (DeCarolis & Deeds, 1999). As Cohen and Levinthal (1990) show, this investment affects a firm’s ability to absorb new, external knowledge, including that of alliance partners. Second, an influx of personnel can augment a firm’s knowledge (Madsen, Mosakowski,