INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL FOCUS ON SOCIAL COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISES. In SIDREA Springer Series in Accounting and Business Administration

In the knowledge-based economy, intellectual capital (IC) is a critical intangible resource for business success and a primary driver of sustainable competitive advantage for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Research on IC's impact on firm performance began in the early 2000s, primarily focusing on for-profit firms. However, recent studies, such as those by Dumay et al. (2020), advocate for a broader perspective, encompassing nonprofit organizations, innovation, sustainability, and social performance. This study emphasizes the strategic role of IC in social cooperative enterprises (SCEs), which are nonprofit organizations combining social and economic practices to achieve their mission and serve community interests. It highlights the need for SCEs to develop IC to enhance their strategic positioning, maintain competitive advantage, and improve corporate performance. The study aims to fill gaps in existing literature by investigating the relationship between IC subdimensions—human, relational, and structural capital—and the financial and social performance of SCEs. Key contributions of the study include: Novelty and Empirical Evidence: It identifies the principal components of IC subdimensions and their effects on SCEs' social and financial performance. Unlike prior studies, which mainly focus on IC reporting and disclosure, this research explores how IC components influence performance and are perceived within SCEs. Methodological Innovation: A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining surveys of 151 Italian SCEs and financial data analysis from the AIDA database. Principal component analysis (PCA) and regression models test hypotheses about IC's impact on performance. Focus on SCEs: The study uniquely addresses social cooperative enterprises as a research setting, which are recognized as advanced examples of social enterprises. This focus fills a gap in IC research in the nonprofit sector. The study addresses three research questions: What are the principal components of IC subdimensions for SCEs? Which IC elements influence SCEs' financial performance? What components affect SCEs' social performance? Findings contribute to the third and fifth phases of IC studies by exploring IC's relationship with organizational performance in the SCE context. The field is dynamic but underexplored, offering significant opportunities for future research, particularly in the hybrid and entrepreneurial nature of SCEs.