Does Intellectual Capital Affect Organizational Performance? Unlocking new facets

Purpose: In most studies on IC (Intellectual Capital) has been seen to consist of three elements: human capital (HC), structural capital (SC) and relational capital (RC). However, emerging studies suggest that three other elements could also be included in IC visualizing and mapping: renewal capital (RC), trust capital (TC), and entrepreneurial capital (EC). Within an international project on value creation, the Italian research unit focused on all IC components in order to verify what is their current level in medium- and large-sized Italian companies, both family and not-family business, and how they affect firm performances. Design/Methodology/Approach: Target population was made up of Italian limited liabilities companies with 100 or more employees. From AIDA database 2000 companies were randomly extracted. Questionnaire submitted to sample firms was divided into different sections aiming at grasping data on: basic company information; Intellectual capital main components. The final dataset included 90 feasible responses. Financial ratios have been obtained from AIDA in order to verify the existence of statistically significant relationships between the elements of the IC and firms performance. A model of multiple linear regression has been developed and differences according to governance (family- non family business) and size have been explored. Findings: The significant positive relationship between organisational performance and different components of IC stress the importance of new facets such as TC, RC and EC, both in family and non-family business. Firms’ ability to learn and acquire new knowledge is strongly related with several aspects of firm performance and competitiveness. Originality: Our research agenda will provide academics and managers with unique insights into the state of art of corporate old and new facets of IC in Italian companies