Nonlinearity in the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance: evidence from Vietnamese listed companies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Long Kweh ◽  
Irene Wei Kiong Ting ◽  
Wen-Min Lu ◽  
Hanh Thi My Le

PurposeConsensus on how intellectual capital (IC) affects corporate performance is limited because of various measurement models of IC and corporate performance. This study thus aims to further the debate on the relationship between IC and corporate performance from the perspectives of nonlinearity, the capital values of IC and the use of a holistic measure of corporate performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing 1,395 firm-year observations derived from Vietnamese listed companies from 2010 to 2018, this study focuses on (1) presenting an IC model benchmarked on value-creating expenses; (2) using a directional distance function (DDF)-based stochastic nonparametric envelopment of data (StoNED) framework to scrutinize multiple performance indicators and the capital values of people, structures and relationships simultaneously; and (3) adopting firm-year cluster-robust regressions to analyze the nonlinear association between IC and corporate performance empirically with an appropriate U test.FindingsResults suggest that human capital (HC), structural capital (SC) and relational capital (RC) are the main contributors of high corporate efficiency, whereas only HC and RC contribute to high corporate profitability. These results are absent when this study employs the conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is also a multidimensional framework, as the dependent variable. More importantly, IC and its components can improve corporate performance, namely, both corporate efficiency and corporate profitability up to a critical point, after which the effects would drop.Practical implicationsOverall, this study highlights not only the need to invest in IC but also its associated costs. That is, policymakers also need to note the marginal cost of investing in IC, which may in the end outweigh the benefits from IC.Originality/valueThis study extends IC-related studies by investigating the nonlinear relationship between IC and corporate performance. Moreover, the value of this study also lies in the multidimensional DDF-based StoNED framework.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Bryl ◽  
Justyna Fijałkowska ◽  
Dominika Hadro

Purpose This study aims to examine intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) on Twitter by 60 of the world’s largest companies and explains the main themes communicated to stakeholders. The second objective is to determine which topics provoke most stakeholders’ reactions. Design/methodology/approach The authors perform content analysis on more than 42,000 tweets to examine ICD practices along with the reactions of stakeholders in the form of retweets and “favorites” toward the information disclosed. Findings Intellectual capital (IC) is an important theme in corporate disclosure practices, as more than one-third of the published tweets refer to IC. The world’s largest companies focus on relational capital information, followed by human and structural capital. The main IC themes disclosed were management philosophy, corporate reputation and business partnering. Tweets related to IC are of greater interest to stakeholders than other tweets and provoke more reactions. There is no complete consistency between the topics most intensively disclosed by companies and those that elicit the most vivid responses from the addressees. Practical implications This study offers an understanding of the world’s largest companies’ practices that refer to ICD via social media and has implications for organizations in the creation and use of communication channels when developing a dialogue with stakeholders on topics regarding IC that may lead to better management of IC performance. Originality/value This paper is a response to the call for studies on ICD via social media, which is strongly highlighted in the recent literature concerning future research on IC and until now was almost absent in the field of business units. This research provides in-depth insights into the use of Twitter to disclose IC elements and indicates which fields and topics of this disclosure provoke stakeholders’ reactions, which is a novelty in ICD studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Goebel

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers for voluntary intellectual capital (IC) reporting based on agency theory. This study responds to calls for critical investigations of IC reporting utilising Goebel’s (2015a) IC measuring approach to investigate the role of IC value and mispricing for IC reporting.Design/methodology/approachA mandatory management report offers a unique research setting in Germany. The content analysis results of 428 German management reports are used in a regression analysis with leverage, ownership diffusion, IC value and mispricing. Additionally, a propensity score matching approach examines the relationship between IC reporting and IC value.FindingsThe regression results show that companies use voluntary IC reporting to encounter mispricing. IC reporting is negatively associated with leverage, whereas ownership diffusion and IC value show no significant results. The propensity score matching approach is also not significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to strengthening and testing agency theory for IC reporting. As mispricing is identified to play an important role for IC reporting, IC research should account for mispricing.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest to reopen a discussion on the declared aims of the German management report and the international integrated reporting model to provide information on value creation, as IC value shows no link to IC reporting.Originality/valueThis study innovatively links IC reporting to IC value and mispricing to investigate drivers for voluntary IC reporting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Buallay ◽  
Allam Hamdan

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of firm size on the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and intellectual capital (IC) efficiency. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was a pooled data for three years (2012-2014) for 171 listed firms, resulting in 489 observations. Findings The findings revealed that the inclusion of firm size as a moderating variable has influenced positively only the relationship between CG principles and capital employed efficiency (CEE). Further, the finding showed that the two IC components namely, human capital efficiency and structural capital efficiency, tend to be higher with firms that high level of CG adoption. However, CEE tends to be higher with firms that have lower level of CG adoption. Other finding shows that CG index was significant with the three IC components. Originality/value Such information will help the stakeholders, investors, decision-makers, regulators, policymakers and scholars to improve their knowledge about IC. Furthermore, it will be useful for firms to place their priorities regarding the internal system and financial plans for effective and efficient use of CG and IC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1124
Author(s):  
Zhining Wang ◽  
Shaohan Cai ◽  
Mengli Liu ◽  
Dandan liu ◽  
Lijun Meng

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to develop a tool measuring individual intellectual capital (IIC) and investigate the relationship between self-reflection and IIC.Design/methodology/approachThis study developed a theoretical model based on social cognitive theory and the literature of self-reflection and intellectual capital (IC). This research collected responses from 502 dyads of employees and their direct supervisors in 150 firms in China, and the study tested the research model using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results indicate that three components of self-reflection, namely, need for self-reflection, engagement in self-reflection and insight, significantly contribute to all the three components of IIC, such as individual human capital, individual structural capital and individual relational capital. The findings suggest that need for self-reflection is the weakest component to impact individual human capital and individual relationship capital, while insight is the one that mostly enhances individual structural capital.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that managers can enhance employees' IIC by facilitating their self-reflection. Managers can develop appropriate strategies based on findings of this study, to achieve their specific goals.Originality/valueFirst, this study develops a tool for measuring IIC. Second, this study provides an enriched theoretical explanation on the relationship between self-reflection and IIC – by showing that the three subdimensions of self-reflection, such as need, engagement and insight, influence the three subdimensions of IIC, such as individual human capital, individual structural capital and individual relational capital.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 814-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Manes Rossi ◽  
Giuseppe Nicolò ◽  
Paolo Tartaglia Polcini

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a new way to disclose intellectual capital (IC) in universities through their websites. Going beyond traditional tools used for intellectual capital disclosure (ICD), this study aims at identifying possible determinants of ICD via the web. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the institutional websites of a sample of Italian universities adapting the theoretical framework developed by Low et al. (2015) to the peculiarities of the Italian university system. Moreover, the relationship between certain explanatory factors identified in previous research and the extent of online ICD represented by two disclosure indexes was tested through an ordinary least squares regression model. Findings The analysis reveals the extensive use of ICD via websites, especially regarding human and internal capital, while the disclosure of external capital through this means is still limited. Internationality and online visibility both positively affect the extent of a university’s ICD. Research limitations/implications The paper represents the first study investigating online ICD and its determinants in universities, contributing new knowledge to help answer the how and what of the matter. Practical implications The results can serve as encouragement to university managers to enhance online ICD to meet the information needs of a wider audience. Originality/value This is the first study to provide evidence about online ICD in universities and to reveal some of the possible determinants to improve this disclosure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 836-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajantha Velayutham ◽  
Asheq Razaur Rahman

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether an individual’s knowledge, skills and capabilities (human capital) are reflected in their compensation. Design/methodology/approach Data are drawn from university academics in the Province of Ontario, Canada, earning more than CAD$100,000 per annum. Data on academics human capital are drawn from Research Gate. The authors construct a regression analysis to examine the relationship between human capital and salary. Findings The analyses performed indicates a positive association between academic human capital and academic salaries. Research limitations/implications This study is limited in that it measures an academic’s human capital solely through their research outputs as opposed to also considering their teaching outputs. Continuing research needs to be conducted in different country contexts and using negative proxies of human capital. Practical implications This study will create awareness about the value of human capital and its contribution towards improving organisational structural capital. Social implications The study contributes to the literature on human capital in accounting and business by focussing on the economic relevance of individual level human capital. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on human capital in accounting and business by focussing on the economic relevance of individual level human capital. It will help create awareness of the importance of valuing human capital at the individual level.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqian Han ◽  
Dayuan Li

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between intellectual capital and innovative performance, and to specify the boundary conditions and mechanisms of the relationship from a knowledge-based dynamic capability perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This study empirically analyzes the impact of intellectual capital on innovative performance and the role knowledge-based dynamic capability plays with a sample of 217 firms in China. To test the research hypotheses, regression analysis is applied. Findings – The results show that intellectual capital positively affects innovative performance, and knowledge-based dynamic capability is a mediator rather than a moderator which partly mediates the relationship between intellectual capital and innovative performance. Practical implications – The findings suggest that realizing superior innovative performance is dependent on a firm’s intellectual capital and its ability to sense opportunities and threats, to make timely and correct decisions, and to facilitate necessary changes efficiently. Originality/value – This study is the first to clarify whether knowledge-based dynamic capability plays a moderating role or a mediating role between intellectual capital and innovative performance. The present study thus helps move forward the understanding on the conditions and mechanisms of the effects of intellectual capital.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Giacosa ◽  
Alberto Ferraris ◽  
Stefano Bresciani

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual model that practically assists companies to produce an effective voluntary external intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) and valorises both the company’s and the stakeholders’ role. It illustrates the relationship among voluntary ICD mechanisms and it takes into consideration the feedback mechanism from external stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Nielsen and Madsen’s (2009) study constitutes the framework of the conceptual model, as it refers to a “sender to receiver” model, which is particularly useful for the research. Findings An effective ICD may only be achieved through a combination of decisions taking into account each individual company’s needs and those of stakeholders’ ones. In addition, the dimensions on which the conceptual model is based are already in use in other widespread disclosure models, and this favours the company. Research limitations/implications Limitations concern design features, recipients and validity of the conceptual model. In terms of theoretical implications, the model emphasizes an “integrated ICD” approach; in addition, the model is based on some dimensions which characterize widespread and general communication models already in use. Practical implications First, this relates to the production of an effective ICD when considered as “one-way information”, from the company to the stakeholders. Second, this relates to the interaction between the company and its stakeholders, within a dyadic exchange. Originality/value The conceptual model is based on some dimensions which characterize widespread and general communication models already in use, which in the model are applied to ICD. Therefore, companies may favour making an ICD, as they are already confident and familiar with these dimensions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 884-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Dzenopoljac ◽  
Chadi Yaacoub ◽  
Nasser Elkanj ◽  
Nick Bontis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to fill a gap in the intellectual capital (IC) literature by providing insights into the relationship between IC and corporate performance among Arab companies and second, to challenge the validity of the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) as a measure of IC’s contribution to performance. Design/methodology/approach The research sample included 100 publicly traded Arab companies selected by Forbes Middle East and ranked as top performers in terms of sales, profits, assets, and market value. The methodology included assessing the impact of IC components on company earnings, profitability, efficiency, and market performance for the period between 2011 and 2015. Research hypotheses were tested through the presentation of descriptive statistics, normality tests, correlation matrix, and multiple regression models. Findings The research yielded ambiguous results. Earnings and profitability were significantly affected by structural and physical capital; efficiency was determined primarily by physical capital; and market performance was mainly influenced by human capital. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of the research comes from disadvantages of VAIC as the measure of IC’s contributions to performance. Originality/value The paper fills a void in the study of IC and corporate performance among Arab companies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica De Santis ◽  
Claudia Presti

PurposeThis paper aims to give an integrated framework for analysing the main opportunities and threats related to the exploitation of Big Data (BD) technologies within intellectual capital (IC) management.Design/methodology/approachBy means of a structured literature review (SLR) of the extant literature on BD and IC, the study identified distinctive opportunities and challenges of BD technologies and related them to the traditional dimensions of IC.FindingsThe advent of BD has not radically changed the risks and opportunities of IC management already highlighted in previous literature. However, it has significantly amplified their magnitude and the speed with which they manifest themselves. Thus, a revision of the traditional managerial solutions needed to face them is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe developed framework can contribute to academic discourse on BD and IC as a starting point to understanding how BD can be turned into intangible assets from a value creation perspective.Practical implicationsThe framework can also represent a useful decision-making tool for practitioners in identifying and evaluating the main opportunities and threats of an investment in BD technologies for IC management.Originality/valueThe paper responds to the call for more research on the integration of BD discourse in the fourth stage of IC research. It intends to improve this understanding of how BD technologies can be exploited to create value from an IC perspective, focussing not only on the potential of BD for creating value but also on the challenges that it poses to organizations.


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