This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the assessment of knowledge assets. Since knowledge assets are at the crux of sustainable competitive advantage, the burgeoning field of intellectual capital is an exciting area for both researchers and practitioners. Unfortunately, the measurement of such intangible assets is difficult. A variety of models have surfaced in an attempt to measure IC and this paper aims to highlight their strengths, weaknesses and operationalizations.

http://www.tarrani.net/kate/docs/AssessingKnowledgeAssets.pdf

Assessing knowledge assets: a review of the models used to measure intellectual capital

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate empirically the relation between the value creation efficiency and firms’ market valuation and financial performance.Design/methodology/approach – Using data drawn from Taiwanese listed companies and Pulic's Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) as the efficiency measure of capital employed and intellectual capital, the authors construct regression models to examine the relationship between corporate value creation efficiency and firms’ market‐to‐book value ratios, and explore the relation between intellectual capital and firms’ current as well as future financial performance.Findings – The results support the hypothesis that firms’ intellectual capital has a positive impact on market value and financial performance, and may be an indicator for future financial performance. In addition, the authors found investors may place different value on the three components of value creation efficiency (physical capital, human capital, and structural cap...

An empirical investigation of the relationship between intellectual capital and firms’ market value and financial performance

This report describes the results of a ground‐breaking research study that measured the antecedents and consequents of effective human capital management. The research sample consisted of 76 senior executives from 25 companies in the financial services industry. The results of the study yielded a holistic causal map that integrated constructs from the fields of intellectual capital, knowledge management, human resources, organizational behaviour, information technology and accounting. The integration of both quantitative and qualitative measures in an overall conceptual model yielded several research implications. The resulting structural equation model allows participating organizations and researchers to gauge the effectiveness of an organization’s human capital capabilities. This will allow practitioners and researchers to more efficiently allocate resources with regard to human capital management. The potential outcomes of the study are limitless, since a program of consistent re‐evaluation can lead to the establishment of causal relationships between human capital management and economic and business results.

Intellectual capital ROI: a causal map of human capital antecedents and consequents

The groundwork of intellectual capital (IC) management, measuring IC, attracts much attention from academics and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to design a measurement model and a qualitative index system of IC, so as to provide a good tool for enterprises to manage their IC. Based on a review of several IC measurement models proposed by western researchers, IC is classified into human capital, structural capital, innovation capital and customer capital, and thereupon a qualitative index system for the above four IC elements is designed through an analysis of their contents. Through an empirical study, it is found that there is a significant relationship between the scores of the four IC elements of a company and its business performance, which proves the validity and rationality of the IC measurement model and the qualitative index system. In the meantime, the empirical study further proves that there is a remarkable relationship between the four IC elements. Therefore enterprises must manage and improve their IC from an integrative perspective.

http://molayari.persiangig.com/PDF/Articles/Measuring_intellectual.pdf

Measuring intellectual capital: a new model and empirical study

Intellectual capital and new product development performance: The mediating role of organizational learning capability

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the three elements of intellectual capital, i.e. human capital, structural capital, and customer capital, and their inter‐relationships within two industry sectors in Malaysia. The study was conducted using a psychometrically validated questionnaire which was originally administered in Canada. The main conclusions from this particular study are that: human capital is important regardless of industry type; human capital has a greater influence on how a business should be structured in non‐service industries compared to service industries; customer capital has a significant influence over structural capital irrespective of industry; and finally, the development of structural capital has a positive relationship with business performance regardless of industry. The final specified models in this study show a robust explanation of business performance variance within the Malaysian context which bodes well for future research in alternative contexts.

William Chua Chong Keow

Papers

Intellectual capital and business performance in Malaysian industries