Intellectual capital and performance in wood industries of Argentina

Abstract

PurposeThere are different models to measure the effect of intellectual capital on firm performance. These models depend on different dimensions of intellectual capital, the interrelations between them and the effects on performance. It is important to analyze several specificities in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in developing countries. This paper aims to test diverse models to verify the previously mentioned relations applied to wood manufacturer SMEs of Oberá (Argentina).Design/methodology/approachA global model including the variables used in the previous literature is used. The paper establishes hypotheses for testing this model and us PLS technique to estimate the parameters of the model in a sample of 113 wood manufacturer SMEs in Oberá (Argentina).FindingsThe only dimension of intellectual capital directly affecting performance is structural capital. The other dimensions exert an indirect effect through structural capital.Research limitations/implicationsThe model does not use all the possible variables to characterize intellectual capital. The causality elements cannot be verified in a temporary horizon because the data are cross‐sectional. In addition, when making reference to data of a particular period of time, there may be causes that imply relations of accidental type. Moreover, the measures used were subjective. This paper only studies the SMEs of the Argentine wood industry.Practical implicationsThe paper offers several suggestions to implement strategies for local SMEs and to support aid to projects for developing countries.Originality/valueThe paper tests different models to analyze the impact of dimensions of intellectual capital on performance in SMEs of developing countries and provides information on the wood manufacturer SMEs in Argentina.

Intellectual Capital, Innovation and Performance: a Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Bontis, 1998;Bontis et al, 2000;Cabrita & Bontis, 2008;Hermans & Kauranen, 2005;Jardon & Martos, 2009) relies on perceptual measures of IC and performance, usually collected through dedicated questionnaires administered to key informants (Philips, 1981). Some studies adopt a mixed approach, as they combine managers' perceptions on intellectual capital with factual and objective performance data (e.g.…”

The Effect of Intellectual Capital on Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing

“…Managers, investors, policymakers and others have focused increasingly on IC, seeing it a key resource in business [17]. This is because intellectual capital has been reported to influence organizations in areas of significant importance to their survival such as economic growth [18], value creation [19] [20], competitiveness [21], business performance [22], job performance [23] and sustainability [24].…”

Training and Development Policy, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance

“…Recent developments in the literature of strategic management realised the importance of human capital/resources (Kamukama and Sulait 2017;Jardon and Dasilva 2017;Narwal and Yadav 2017;Jardon and Martos 2009). Human capital that possesses skilled and knowledgeable employees through an organization's training and development enables that organization to achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors.…”