The role of intellectual capital in social cooperatives within a network to support strategy implementation and corporate performance

Purpose-This paper aims to examine the Intellectual Capital (IC) within social cooperatives that work in non-profit sectors (NPOs), and to determine which components of IC are more valuable for firm performance and more effective for implementation of business strategies. Design/Methodology/Approach- This paper reviews the above concepts in the light of the non-profit environment and tries to analyse the interaction between the components of Intellectual Capital and the corporate performance in the social cooperative enterprises, in which the intangible resources are particularly relevant. Findings- IC is an important resource that social cooperatives need to develop in order to gain sustained strategic advantage and sustainable performances. Research limitations/implications- The awareness of intangible assets importance should represent an incentive for managers to measure, monitor and manage these resources. The limitations of this study are related to the empirical research that include exclusively social cooperatives belonging to a specific group, the CGM Network