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This research aims to provide empirical evidence on the relationship among knowledge management practices, intellectual capital and innovation performance, with the focus on Italian SMEs. Knowledge management and intellectual capital are two strictly related concepts, meaning that the first can be considered as the "motor" of growth and development of the latter. Therefore, changes among a firm's performance can be due to the way they manage their knowledge and intellectual capital. This is particularly true in the case of small and medium enterprises, considering that due to a lack of physical and financial resources, their success depends on the knowledge, experience and skills of the owner and his employees. SMEs are often described as the backbone of the economy and the engine of economic growth in the industrialized world. In fact, 99% of companies within the European Union are classified as SMEs that employ 66% of its working population. Surprisingly, SMEs have received little attention regarding research compared with large firms. This study uses survey data from 194 Italian SMEs and consistent partial least squares technique. Results clearly show that knowledge management practices have a positive direct impact on each component of intellectual capital. At the same time, differently from structural and relational capital, human capital has no significative direct impact on innovation performance. The main limitation of this study concerns the fact that it focuses only on Italian SMEs and thus, results cannot be generalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic studies on planning and strategic decision-making have traditionally contrasted the technocratic decision-making style with the intuitive-based style (Khandwalla, 1977; Covin et al, 2001; Elbanna, 2010), sustaining that the former leads to better decisions compared to the latter. A technocratic style consists in a highly rational and structured (systematic) process that requires managers to break down a problem into smaller pieces necessary to solve it, search and evaluate relevant objective information, and prefer the use of quantitative tools when assessing and choosing among alternatives (Grünig et al, 2005) . On the contrary, an intuitive style consists in the use "of the mass of facts, patterns, concepts, techniques, abstractions, and generally what we call formal knowledge or beliefs, which are impressed on our minds" (Barnard, cited in Simon, 1987). However, nowadays both styles are necessary. Firms have to rely on both managers' rationality and intuition to make effective decisions because of today's very complex and uncertain environment. Since information and knowledge are at the basis of both decision-making processes, we aim to understand the linkage between knowledge management practices, rationality and intuition, in order to analyse the impact they have on planning effectiveness. To test our hypotheses we developed a conceptual model in which knowledge management practices directly affect rationality, intuition and planning effectiveness. At the same time, we focused on the impact that rationality and intuition have on planning effectiveness. The model was empirically tested on a sample of 169 Italian medium high-tech firms using structural equation modelling (SEM) based on consistent partial least square (PLSc). Results clearly show that knowledge management practices have a positive direct impact on rationality and planning effectiveness. In addition, knowledge management practices provide a strong contribution to intuition, but intuition has no impact on planning effectiveness. This paper enriches existing literature by highlighting the linkage between knowledge management practices and intuition, which has remained under researched in academia. The main limitation of this study concerns the fact that it focuses only on Italian technology-based firms and thus, results cannot be generalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays knowledge represents an important strategic factor for business success. In fact, intangible resources often have a greater value than tangible ones and firms have to manage them adequately in order to reach their goals and gain competitive advantage. At the same time, knowledge management and intellectual capital are two strictly related concepts, meaning that the first is the “motor” of growth and of the latter. This is particularly true in the case of SMEs, considering that, due to a lack of physical and financial resources, their capability to reach their goals and be successful depends on the knowledge, experience and skills of the owner and his employees. However, SMEs seem to be disregarded, especially if the topics of knowledge management, intellectual capital and planning are linked. Therefore, this paper tries to answer the following two research questions: (RQ1) Does knowledge management practices impact on SMEs’ intellectual capital? and (RQ2) Does intellectual capital impact on SMEs’ planning effectiveness? To answer these questions we have created and empirically tested a conceptual model on a sample of 295 Italian SMEs using Consistent Partial Least Squares. Results clearly show that knowledge management practices have a positive direct impact on each component of intellectual capital. At the same time human, structural and relational capital have a significative direct impact on planning effectiveness. The main limitation of this study concerns the fact that it focuses only on Italian SMEs and thus, results cannot be generalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate the impact of Intellectual Capital (IC) on corporate performance in high-technology Italian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The research question is the following: does intellectual capital affect corporate performance in high-technology SMEs? The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) has been employed to determine how human, structural and physical resources affect corporate performance and value creation. The research sample includes 2,442 enterprises operating in the high-technology sectors (Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations; Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products; Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery). The empirical analysis is relative to the period between 2012 and 2016. The findings show that the effect of both human capital efficiency and physical capital on operating profitability is positive, but the impact of physical capital is stronger. While the structural capital efficiency has a negative effect on corporate performance. The time variables negatively affect corporate performance, with an increasing coefficient in the five years. The main limitation derives from disadvantages of VAIC: it is based on historical data, it does not consider the synergy effects between tangible and intangible assets and the employee training; it does not include relational capital. The study tries to fill the gap in the IC literature by providing insights into the relationships between IC, SMEs and technology. The managerial/entrepreneurial implications are relevant; in fact, physical resources represent the principal lever of performance for managers in hightechnology sectors. Human capital efficiency probably has a greater impact in the long period, scarcely significant in the medium term. Finally, the negative effect of structural capital could be caused by an inefficient use of this resource. Moreover, the employed variable could not be adequate to effectively measure this IC component. The interaction among IC components could better explain the impact on corporate performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]