Search

Our lives are remembered as an assemblage of overlapping stories – some of them prosaic and unremarkable, others more fraught, contingent and consequential – but most remain unfinished, punctuated only by their telling: to particular people, in particular ways, for particular purposes. In this spirit, a first-person account is provided of the making and impact of what has become the most-cited article in the 50-year history of Theory and Society. Originally drafted as a chapter of the author's PhD dissertation, the article sought to provide the concept of social capital with an intellectual history, to forge an analytical framework integrating two (heretofore) largely separate realms of scholarship applying social capital theory to economic development, and to suggest some ways in which this framework, grounded in findings from across the social sciences, might be applicable to policy and practice. The paper itself emerged over two years from the generous input of many junior and senior scholars, several of whom were not based at the author's university (and thus had few incentives to provide it). Pre-publication, the article's positive reception – first amplified by a high-profile reviewer and then a widening circle of influential development researchers – played a decisive role in helping the author secure the first (and thus far only) opening for a sociologist in the World Bank's Development Research Group. Post-publication, the paper's key elements – theoretical, methodological, and substantive – became the foundation for a career at the nexus of (interdisciplinary) research, policy, implementation, evaluation, teaching, and mentoring across an array of sectors. It was an article that changed a life – and by extension, a lot of other lives. The story continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover the national intellectual capital (NIC) of South Africa by making comparisons with Poland and Romania.Design/methodology/approach Based on a database of an NIC measurement model spanning 2001-2015, this study plotted the development trend of the NIC and its component capitals – human, market, process and renewal capitals. Their correlations with GDP per capita (ppp) (GDP hereinafter) were also presented.Findings The NIC of South Africa is lower than that of both Poland and Romania. Except for the increase of its human capital together with its GDP, the other capitals have lower relevance. Poland experienced highly correlated growth for its NIC and GDP, shedding light for South Africa. The qualitative findings are also reported.Research limitations/implications The IMD database carries South African data only for the African continent. Therefore, this paper cannot cover other countries from the continent.Practical implications There are three implications from both the quantitative and qualitative analyses: initiate national transformation from the two core issues of education and health; invite and provide attractive incentives for South African returnees from abroad and members of local private sectors to take part in the national transformation efforts; and learn from the NIC development pattern of Poland and Romania by investing in market capital and process capital as soon as possible for faster results.Social implications The research findings of this paper unveil the root of the social problems in South Africa, including education, health, high unemployment and so on. Suggestions are provided for mid-term and long-term potential solutions.Originality/value This paper demonstrates the value of an NIC in the economically successful Poland whose growth and GDP growth occurred at a similar pace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and performance of public universities in emerging countries in order to identify patterns and provide recommendations that may turn the universities’ IC into development opportunities, in terms of research, innovation, and education.Design/methodology/approach The analysis targeted the whole population of the public universities in the Republic of Colombia. A cluster analysis, based on five performance variables, has been conducted. Then, the IC of the universities pertaining to the three resulting clusters has been compared. Subsequently, for each performance variable, the IC of above-average and below-average universities has been benchmarked.Findings The results of this study show how different aspects of IC are associated with University performance. Among the many, the authors found that universities should achieve a critical mass to obtain outstanding research and innovation results. The findings also identify the particular importance of both students and scholars’ international mobility programs for most of the performance variables.Social implications This study provides a baseline for the assessment of the impact on society of the IC available in the universities of emerging countries. The application may serve as a guide in the choice of public policies, dedicated to the strengthening of the universities’ IC in order to improve their performance.Originality/value This paper proposes an innovative model to analyze the relationship between IC and university performance in emerging countries. The model identifies the association between the IC accrued in the universities and their capability of transferring it to the society under the form of science, innovation, and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to tie together the insights from the body of research relating to economic complexity theory, structural holes, non-price based competition, and knowledge management. The insights relating to generating national prosperity are synthesised through an intellectual capital lens.Design/methodology/approach The paper uses literature review combined with insights from an Australian project on state-based economic complexity.Findings The connectivist and autopoietic epistemological paradigms are found to be most aligned with the need to manage transformation between organisational and human resources that will achieve causal ambiguity and hence inimitability. This inimitability forms the basis for achieving non-price based competition and if there is a rich network of economic agents that, both individually and collectively through collaboration, have these characteristics a large share of the economy can operate on the basis of non-priced based competition. If all these agents have an export focus the economic complexity of the economy will be high, and likely increasing, which will enable both the creation and the appropriation of large amounts of value and hence result in increasing national prosperity.Research limitations/implications Findings are only relevant for OECD countries given the origins of the data used.Practical implications Managerial implications are outlined as are major implications for public policy.Originality/value This is the first time that these concepts are linked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When intellectual capital is built "from the scratch" in an effort to move a society's situation to a sustainable status, there is often a need for a catalyst that triggers the endeavor. The "trigger", in the case that is reported in this paper, was the installation of a new college in a rural community in Northern Ghana where heretofore, no comprehensive tertiary education had been available. The college established an outreach program which was destined to provide the community with increased opportunities for improving the overall social and economic well-being. This creates an outer circle of engagement through accessing government officials, local businesses, community councils, health workers, traditional leaders (tribal chiefs), religious leaders and heads of NGOs on topics like labor relations, conflict resolution, sustainability management, social responsibility, cultural diversity, and social inclusiveness. At the onset, the members of the community contributed their traditional views on these topics and how this would combine with knowledge brought in through the new college. Since rural communities in Africa have a very intimate and intense relation to nature, good hands-on skills and an abundance of indigenous wisdom, it was felt that this combination would result in a rich body of knowledge and competencies. Ultimately, a valuable base would be developed from this knowledge for an inventory of intellectual capital that can be transferred to generations of descendants. At the heart of this endeavor was the Center for Cross Cultural Ethics and Sustainable Development, an institution created by the college, to move these efforts forward. There are two perspectives which make this case relevant for new developments in knowledge management: One is the issue of what has been called the "fourth mission" of educational institutions (Trencher et al. 2013), moving the institutions to co-creating sustainability by collaborating with government, industry and civil society to advance sustainable transformation in their environment. The other is that when two bodies of knowledge co-exist, the question arises how this co-existence should be approached. This case embeds a variety of systems-thinking constructs. Which would be the best way to combine indigenous wisdom with new knowledge brought in by the college's academicians and outside practitioners? How can a balance be coalesced between community needs that must often be satisfied short-term and needs for which long-term solutions are required? How can self-organization and relationality be conjoined? How can intellectual capital from both the traditional and the newly acquired skills and knowledge be generated in the community? The paper reflects on both the knowledge management and the systems-thinking interpretations of the case. community) and processes self-reference and other-reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization, rapidly changing technologies and stronger competition put pressure on businesses to increase innovation rates. Knowledge and intellectual capital are considered to be a source of strategic importance and an engine for the economic development of the business environment. In understanding of the authors of the paper, intellectual capital is considered to be the key asset of an enterprise in today's dynamically developing, knowledge-intensive and informative environment. The automotive industry is a sector based on knowledge, new knowledge, international cooperation, human resource development and innovation, which are one of the key features of the automotive industry. The aim of the article is to point out the relationship between intellectual capital and innovations in the automotive industry, as exemplified by Volkswagen Slovakia, a.s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development gap between the "Old" and "New" member countries of the European Union is an important problem challenging the efficiency and strength of the European single market. In this regard, a subsequent question arises: which actions in the policy making must be undertaken, by both national and supranational authorities, to stimulate cohesion in the EU and which directions should be followed? The present paper tries to answer this question considering the perspective of the Eastern European nations and their economic development premises analysing the aspects of governmental participation in the economy and the influence of entrepreneurship upon long run competitiveness. The research results explicitly underline that entrepreneurship in the Eastern European nations is a determinative driver of long-term economic competitiveness due to its favourable impact upon the formation of human capital, enhancement of innovation potential and overall intellectual resources of nations. The effects of governmental participation in the economy upon the economic growth premises are heterogeneous including on the formation of physical and intellectual capital. Consequently, it was reached the conclusion that the Eastern European Nations should prioritise entrepreneurship since it is capable of boosting human capital creation and, at the same time, they should improve the institutional quality to minimise the factors undermining the business including corruption and red-tape, etc. In such a way, the Eastern European countries can overcome, in the long run, the development gap with the Western EU states and raise their economic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework to analyze the intellectual capital (IC) of new generation business incubators. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper carries out a literature-based analysis of the different components of the IC of business incubators and develops a conceptual framework that links the business incubators' IC to the IC of incubated firms. Findings -- The paper provides an analytical model able to support practitioners and scholars to better understand and evaluate the IC criticalities and requirements of incubators. The notion of incubation path is developed. Originality/value -- The paper contributes to the extant literature about the intangible assets of business incubators by analyzing in detail how these structures use their IC to perform their activities. Keywords Business incubators, Intellectual capital, Incubation path, Tenant firms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the production function of firms based on the use of intellectual capital. The authors come up with this problem since believe that the new economy conditions require an adjustment and a development of classical firm theory. Design/methodology/approach – The research question addressed in this study is mainly related to the empirical validation of the function based on companies' intangibles in the Cobb-Douglas framework. This model enables the authors to advocate the idea of the complementarity of intellectual resources as well as simplifies the analysis of intellectual capital features. To accomplish the purpose of the research, the authors design a log-linear model and estimate it on a sample of more than 400 European and American companies. Findings – Application of Cobb-Douglas framework allowed designing a production function based on intellectual capital. The complementarity of intellectual capital components is justified on the empirical results obtained in this research. The increasing return to scale for intellectual capital was established for the sample examined in this study. Research limitations/implications – The main shortcoming of the approach implemented in this study is related to the proxy indicators of intellectual capital. Nevertheless, the authors statistically validate the chosen indicators applying hedonic approach. Practical implications – Practical accomplishment of this research is mainly associated with the conclusion about an increasing return to scale of intellectual capital. This phenomenon appears to be of a particular importance for investment decisions. Originality/value – The findings of this paper provide a new insight into intellectual resources interrelation that enhances companies' value creation. The authors also hope to assist future research attempts in application of the theory of company's growth driven by its intangible capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intellectual capital has become a key element of the knowledge economy. Their management is a factor that influences the competitive advantage of companies. The main objective of this paper is to present a methodology (ICM - Intellectual Capital Model) that allows the audit of intellectual capital management in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). From the conducted research, it can be concluded that the model is technically robust and determines that the management of intellectual capital is likely to be audited and certified in order to control the quality and dynamism of the knowledge generated and allowing the partner organizations (customers, suppliers and enders) to estimate the innovation capacity and verify the conformity of their management parameters, compared with a reference standard. Indeed, the results of surveys also show that the proposed model forms the basis of a credible accreditation system for intellectual capital management in the majority of Portuguese SMEs. This paper also contributes to enhance the discussion around the value of organizations intangible assets and therefore to change the current concepts of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to support the competitiveness and knowledge-based economic growth of the Slovak region of Košice and its stakeholders; suitable intellectual capital (IC) methodologies were selected and applied. This approach responds to a weak innovation performance of Slovakia in general and a weak connection of the Slovak labour market and vocational training system.Design/methodology/approach The methodological “backbone” is given by IC reporting (ICR). The two ICR models – the Austrian University model and the German “Alwert” model – were selected and transferred to higher educational institutions (HEI) and companies in Košice. The knowledge transfer was accomplished by implementation of on-site trainings with different groups of stakeholders, supported by e-learning. Several accompanying in-depth interviews with Austrian stakeholders were conducted to derive recommendations for ICR implementation in the Slovak public sector.Findings Beyond knowledge transfer, a shared understanding of the importance of IC management and common “IC language” between different stakeholders of the regional innovation system could be developed. Further, several recommendations for a sound development of an IC governance tool for HEI were elaborated.Practical implications The knowledge transfer and practical implementation of this Slovak case were successful. Requests for follow-up initiatives, invitations for conferences, development of projects including ICR elements prove this valuation.Originality/value A methodological innovation was accomplished by adapting a set of innovation key drivers as structural base for the development of the regional innovation function and interaction of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to tackle the problem of societal knowledge management from the perspective of critical management research. The focus is on national intellectual capital analysis as part of societal knowledge management. First, the aim is to identify the dominant discourse that governs the discussion around national intellectual capital and its measurement. Second, the aim is to explore the prospects for an alternative conceptualisation and to propose a heuristic tool through which it is possible to approach national intellectual capital and its measurement in a critical, informed and analytic way. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes a critical standpoint and leans loosely on the methodology of critical discourse analysis by Norman Fairclough. Findings – The paper argues for the emancipation of national intellectual capital from the orthodoxy that relates it to economic growth, quantitative measurement, objectivity and universality towards a discourse that regards the value of national intellectual capital and its analysis more broadly, recognising the contextual and subjective nature of national intellectual capital. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual analysis provides a basis for further empirical assessment of national intellectual capital. Societal implications – The paper offers a critical conceptual lens through which to approach societal knowledge management. The constructed heuristic tool for analysing national intellectual capital can serve as a basis for strategic knowledge-based development. Originality/value – The paper offers a critical reflection of intellectual capital on the national/societal level and a starting point for critical societal knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper aims to provide an assessment of a tool for the macro-level measurement of intellectual capital developed by Corrado, Hulten and Sichel (CHS model). Design/methodology/approach – The aim paper assesses the validity and accuracy of the CHS model in measuring intellectual capital in general and to see whether it has application at the national economy level. Findings – The model's new accounting ideas have great potential, but some serious question marks remain. The key advantage of the model is that it accumulates capitalized intangibles over time. On the other hand, the elements of intellectual capital, i.e. spending on innovative property and economic competencies, software and other computerized information, are too vague and problematic. Originality/value – CHS model is a rather frequently used method for measuring intellectual capital. However, its validity has not been under critical analysis or examination earlier. Therefore, the results of this paper bring important and valuable information into reliable measurement of intellectual capital and are a step forward to develop more valid methodologies within intellectual capital research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of open markets and global competition, considering the lack of significant mineral resources and cheap labour, the creation of innovation is a priority for Latvia. Effective implementation of the Triple Helix model of interaction between universities, industry and government, aimed at creating innovations, can improve the competitiveness of regions, using mainly local resources, by improving the co-operation and interaction with a synergistic effect. An important aspect of the Triple Helix model is a mechanism of knowledge sharing. Knowledge is irreducible to information. It acquires the status of the object of economic and intellectual capital, takes the form of assets that have a dual nature of the goods and at the same time, the inalienable value. The aim of this paper is to study the mechanism of knowledge sharing and its application in the Triple Helix model, as well as to provide recommendations for Latvia with respect to the implementation of the Triple Helix model. Based on the review and analysis of the existing literature the authors have identified significant aspects of knowledge sharing, both explicit and tacit, contexts of knowledge sharing, interaction factors between the source and recipient, the exchange of knowledge, and the clusters of variables that affect knowledge sharing. This paper is a part of a broader study on the economic evaluation and implementation of the Triple Helix model in the Baltic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to argue that the kind of variety among firms that is a condition for economic progress is fundamentally based on the intellectual capital (IC) of each firm. Design/methodology/approach - The theoretical analysis is illustrated with case study findings from the Finnish games industry. Findings - The firm heterogeneity essential for the development of a knowledge-intensive industry cannot be accurately captured with the concepts "routines" or "dynamic capabilities". Instead, IC should be adopted for this purpose as it emphasises the skills, actions and determination of people and their interactions, thus capturing the uniqueness of each firm. Research limitations/implications - Case study findings from other knowledge-intensive industries would be needed to make the argument more general. Originality/value - Papers approaching IC from the industry-level have been scarce, likewise papers tying IC to the evolutionary theory of economic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has used the Albania Living Standards Measurement Survey (ALSMS) of 2002 to contribute to a currently limited empirical literature on the demographic profile of Albanian migration. The primary purpose of our analysis is to examine the factors associated with whether an individual has considered migration abroad or not. Our results suggest that migration in Albania is related to poverty but in more subtle ways than usually hypothesized. First, it seems that outside of Tirana and in rural areas, it is the relatively better off who have considered migrating abroad. This may reflect lower opportunities for the better educated in these areas, or that migration costs are higher in these areas and therefore prohibit the relatively poor from considering migration, or that the poorer households have less developed networks abroad, or some combination of all of the above. Secondly, when we consider individuals already living in urban areas or in the Tirana region, we find that it is the less well off who are more likely to consider migrating abroad (although this is not a statistically robust result for urban areas). This result could be taken to suggest either that migration costs are substantially lower for potential migrants in urban areas or in the Tirana region, no longer precluding the relatively poor from migrating, or that the employment opportunities available for the less well off are seen as inferior to those that are assumed to exist abroad. The better off in Tirana and in other urban areas, facing an economic environment that has undergone significant change in a relatively short period of time, may not see any advantage in migrating abroad, and may therefore decide that staying at home is a superior option. This has subtle and nuanced policy implications, particularly as far as potential brain drain is concerned. To the extent that skills and living standards are positively correlated with each other, our results suggest a possible brain drain from rural areas and from areas outside of Tirana. This has interesting implications for spatial inequality trends, with the gap between Tirana and elsewhere, and between urban and rural areas, likely to rise. We also find that significant differences exist between men and women, between those of different ages and with different education levels, between different types of labour-force statuses, and between individuals from households with children of different ages. Some of these estimated differences are very striking, and all proved to be well determined in a statistical sense. Further work is under way to examine the causal relationships between considering migration and these factors; this requires using more sophisticated econometric methods. In addition, we are also keen to explore the factors that affect whether an individual has attempted to migrate, rather than merely having considered migration; the ALSMS provides information that will enable us to investigate this. However, we believe that the current paper provides some new insights and enhances our understanding of the relationship between migration and household welfare in Albania. In particular our research suggests that broad-based economic growth may result in greater migration to Tirana and to other urban areas, resulting in an even greater strain on the social and physical infrastructure in Tirana and on its local labour market. This may then, of course, act to create incentives to encourage external migration from Tirana to other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the possibility of evaluation of the intellectual capital in Science, Information and Technology domain from Romania. The analysis is made starting from a base sample of 1400 SMEs. Quantitative methods such as Structural Equation Modelling method are used to determine the group of latent factors used to evaluate the IC components of SME. Due to the particularities of Romanian SMEs and of the indicators used, some findings such as reference age of manager, the role of strong internal organization and structural capital are revealing for the first time some aspects relating the intangible assets and their potential resource for companies' performance. The results are similar to some particular studies made on SMEs from countries with economies in transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evidences the result of studying the role of the intellectual capital in the sustainable development of organizations, as well as the diagnosis about the management of the intangible assets in the Cubans companies, where 210 Havana's companies were used as samples. The present paper suggests a model for the measurement of the efficiency of intangibles's management, adapted to the conditions of Cuban economy. For the determination of intangible inductive variables of value in our context, a research with 210 businessmen of all the country was carried out. The feasibility and pertinence of proposed mode is evaluated through its application to a Cuban metallurgic industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of intellectual capital (IC) has often not been taken up as much as the proponents of IC may have wished. As Dumay (2012) outlines, there are barriers to implementing IC in organizations, and as academics and practitioners we need to overcome these barriers. We propose one way to do this is by providing reflective narratives of the journey the authors have taken as a successful IC practitioner and a successful IC academic. Based on constructivist learning theory (Chiucchi, 2013a) we offer a staged model of IC development (Guthrie et al., 2012) outlining how we went through similar stages in personally understanding and deploying IC. To do this, Mary Adams and John Dumay trace their IC learning journey in three stages of intuition, control and value creation. This paper contributes to the IC literature by providing an understanding of the growth a person may need to take in order to become an IC Missionary, rather than merely an IC preacher (Dumay, 2013, p. 8). If this can be achieved, we can provide a forum for open conversations about the concept of IC and the tools available so we can empower people and organizations to experience and collaborate to develop their own IC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show that it is possible to measure the development and management of knowledge in a country using indicators of intellectual capital that consider non visible assets not included in Gross Domestic Product. Using this idea, we obtained a measure of the intellectual capital for 72 countries selected in accordance with the information available for 2000, 2005 and 2008. These measures allows us to verify the hypothesis that knowledge acts as a divergent factor of wealth, that is, that rich countries are richer in knowledge and manage it more efficiently than poor countries. Thus, in a global economy, intellectual capital circulates in the opposite direction to development, that is, from poor to rich countries. In this sense, economic growth in developing countries displays a stronger relationship with intellectual capital. We show how national intellectual capital anticipated the economic crisis before GDP, as real GDP averages increase in all the years considered, whereas national intellectual capital decreased in last year analysed. Moreover, we used a data panel model with common coefficients to emphasize the most influential factor in the recession in order to ascertain the areas where governments must act to overcome a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries such as Philippine and Indonesia are not only become the contributors in foreign workers in Southeast Asia region but to the other parts of the world. For that, governments of both countries are always encouraging their citizen to migrate to another country in order to stabilize the economy by reducing the unemployment and remittance send by their citizen that working at overseas. Malaysia and Thailand are among main importers of semi skilled and unskilled foreign workers especially from regional countries. Meanwhile, Singapore is more on importing skilled workers and put on high requirement in engaging semi skilled or unskilled workers. This paper will look through the phenomenon of foreign workers in Southeast Asia countries such as Indonesia, Philippine, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore especially in administrative and regulation aspect on those countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – As service companies are occupying an increasingly significant place as drivers of economic growth, there is a pressing need to understand their peculiarities in order to facilitate their effective management and governance. One important area in which this kind of understanding is lacking is intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management. Although intellectual capital has become the key value driver for all types of organizations, there is a lack of systematic research on whether there are fundamental differences in the IC of service-oriented versus product-oriented companies. In an attempt to bridge this gap the paper aims to examine the main differences in IC stocks, creation, management and protection mechanisms between service-oriented and product-oriented companies. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on empirical evidence collected from 418 respondents representing HR and R&D functions in 335 Finnish companies. Findings – The results demonstrate that service-oriented companies possess more human capital and renewal capital, and focus more on IC creation than product-oriented companies. In addition, IC protection is stronger in product-oriented companies. As companies move towards a service orientation they need to change their approach to IC stocks and management, and in this acknowledging the differences between a service and a product orientation is the first step. Originality/value – The results presented in this study shed new light on the differences between service-oriented and product-oriented companies in terms of the possession, management, creation and protection of intellectual capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, it is widely accepted that knowledge and learning are the core of competitiveness, international division of labour and agglomeration and exclusion phenomena. Yet we are still in need of a better understanding of the processes which allow access by individual regions both to codified knowledge and RTD networks as well as tacit knowledge and know-how at the international/interregional level. This paper will discuss possible approaches to analyse the mechanisms which operate at the international/interregional level and lead to higher forms of integration of industrial and service firms, not only in a commercial or financial perspective but also in knowledge and innovation networks. It will point to a need to develop policy strategies in support of institutions that create and transfer knowledge on a European scale and outline open questions for the creation of the necessary institutional background for the creation and the support of knowledge and innovation networks at this level and for the conditions of its transferability to Objective 1 regions and the EU new member states and candidate countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]