This paper details an empirical pilot study that explores the development of several conceptual measures and models regarding intellectual capital and its impact on business performance. The objective of this pilot study is to explore the development of items and constructs through principal components analysis and partial least squares (PLS). The final retained, subjective measures and optimal structural specification show a valid, reliable, significant and substantive causal link between dimensions of intellectual capital and business performance. These results should help both academics and practitioners more readily understand the components of intellectual capital and provide insight into developing and increasing it within an organization. Suggestions are then made to advance and improve this research programme.

Intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models

Knowledge is recognized as an important weapon for sustaining competitive advantage and many companies are beginning to manage organizational knowledge Researchers have investigated knowledge management factors such as enablers, processes, and performance However, most current empirical research has explored the relationships between these factors in isolation To fill this gap, this paper develops a research model that interconnects knowledge management factors The model includes seven enablers: collaboration, trust, learning, centralization, formalization, T-shaped skills, and information technology support The emphasis is on knowledge creation processes such as socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization To establish credibility between knowledge creation and performance, organizational creativity is incorporated into the model Surveys collected from 58 firms were analyzed to test the model The results confirmed the impact of trust on knowledge creation The information technology support had a positive impact on knowledge combination only Organizational creativity was found to be critical for improving performance; neglecting ideas can undermine a business The results may be used as a stepping stone for further empirical research and can help formulate robust strategies that involve trade-offs between knowledge management enablers

Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes, and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination

Human resources and the resource based view of the firm

Measuring Organizational Performance: Towards Methodological Best Practice

Within economic geography and industrial economics, interest in the concept of tacit knowledge has grown steadily in recent years. Nelson and Winter helped revive this interest in the work of Michael Polanyi by using the idea of tacit knowledge to inform their analysis of routines and evolutionary dynamics of technological change. More recently, the concept has received closer scrutiny. This paper offers a further contribution to this project by offering a critical analysis of the prevailing implicit and explicit economic geographies of tacit knowledge, focusing on the relationship between tacit knowledge and institutions. While much of the innovation literature focuses on a single question ^ can tacit knowledge be effectively shared over long distances ^ the paper argues that this issue cannot be properly addressed without considering a broader range of related questions. It highlights three tacit knowledge problems which, together, provide a more complete view of this issue. First, how is tacit knowledge produced? Second, how do firms find and appropriate tacit knowledge? Third, how is tacit knowledge reproduced or shared ^ that is, how does tacit knowledge promote social learning processes, and must the participants be geographically proximate in order for effective learning to occur? The paper revisits Michael Polanyi’s original conception of tacit knowledge, showing it to be limited by its experiential and cognitive emphasis, with insufficient attention devoted to the role and origins of social context. Alternatively, the paper argues that one cannot sort out the geography of tacit knowledge without inquiring into the foundations of context and culture, and the institutional underpinnings of economic activity, taking the work of another Polanyi ^ Karl ^ as the logical starting point.

Tacit knowledge and the economic geography of context, or The undefinable tacitness of being (there)

From the Publisher:
This groundbreaking book offers practical advice and rules of thumb for designing a business strategy that focuses on knowledge as an intangible asset. In eight chapters, Sveiby assembles a veritable toolbox of knowledge-based management techniques to enable managers to meet the new business challenges of the coming century. 28 charts; 16 tables.

Karl Erik Sveiby

Papers

The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets