Intellectual capital: company's invisible source of competitive advantage

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. It aims to explore the extent to which intellectual capital elements can explain competitive advantage in Uganda's microfinance industry.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.FindingsThis study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account up to 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. Their order of importance in explaining the variance in competitive advantage (basing on their standardized beta values) is: structural capital, human capital and relational capital.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of these variables across time.Practical implicationsThe managers of microfinance firms need to appreciate that the rise of intellectual capital in the industry is unavoidable, given the competitive and technological forces that are sweeping the twenty‐first century.Originality/valueThis is the first study that focuses on testing the individual influence of intellectual capital elements on competitive advantage in Uganda microfinance industry.

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

“…This is supported by [70] who mentioned that intellectual capital must include human capital, structural capital, and relational capital for organizations to achieve their goals as they are interdependent and intertwined with each other. For the purposes of this paper the IC dimensions of human capital, structural capital, and relational capital will be used in accordance with the study of [71].…”

“…The items used to measure intellectual capital dimensions (human capital, structural capital and relational capital) were adopted from [71]. The items used to measure knowledge sharing dimensions (knowledge donating and knowledge collecting) were adopted from [28], and items used to measure organizational performance dimensions (operational performance and financial performance) were adopted from [76].…”

Does Intellectual Capital Affect the Competitiveness of Public Accounting Firms in Indonesia?

“…Stewart's [30] agreed to the statement that Intellectual Capital is an invisible but powerful asset to create Competitive Advantage. The relation strengthened by the findings of several researchers with positive relationship results between intellectual capital and competitive advantage [31][32][33]. However, the previous research had not yet studied the Public Accounting Firms sector that has to be able to compete globally to catch the opportunity nowadays.…”

The Mediating Effect of Social Networks on the Influence of Tacit Knowledge on Organizational Learning and the Attendant Impact on Competitive Advantage: Learning from the ICT Content Service Providers Sector in Kenya

“…It is not the people that one hires that are the assets; it is the relationships that they bring to the firm that add real value. These relationships and intellectual capital, of which tacit knowledge is a part, are intrinsically linked and contribute to a firm's competitiveness (Kamukama, 2013). Networks that facilitate knowledge transfer among people in a firm provide opportunities for learning and cooperation (Janhonen & Johanson, 2011).…”