Technological intensity as a moderating variable for the intellectual capital-performance relationship

The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence of the moderating influence of technology intensity on the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and corporate performance in Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). An empirical analysis was developed for the period 2012–2016 and included 62,849 Italian SMEs. Data were collected from the AIDA database (Bureau Van Dijk—A Moody's Analytics Company), and the sample was composed of high-tech, medium-high-tech, medium-low-tech, and low-technology manufacturing firms, according to the “Classification of Manufacturing Industries by Technological Intensity,” as defined by the OECD. The empirical results highlight that profitability is significantly and positively affected by financial and physical capital efficiency and by human capital efficiency (HCE), but the effect of HCE is weak, and the structural capital efficiency has a negative effect on corporate performance. The time variables positively affect corporate performance, with the highest coefficient in 2016. Additionally, technology intensity reinforces the positive effect of HCE on firm performance: the higher the technological intensity, the higher the positive impact of HCE on corporate performance. The managerial implications are relevant; in fact, tangible, financial, and current assets (employed capital) represent the principal lever of performance for managers in technology sectors. The negative effect of structural capital could be caused by inefficient use of this resource, or the employed variable could not be adequate to effectively measure this IC component. It is necessary for managers to appreciate technological intensity as a contingency variable affecting the IC–performance relationship.