Intellectual capital. Development and implementation of a measurement system

Since the early 1990’s there has been a transition from a production-oriented society to a service-generation and sharing society. If organizations wish to successfully compete they must act as continuously learning organizations, constantly expanding their knowledge capital (Osland, Yaprak, 1995; Senge, 1990). In this context the notion of intellectual capital (IC), defined as the stock of knowledge in the firm (Dierickx, Cool, 1989) and as the intellectual material – knowledge, information, experience – that can be put to use to create wealth (Stewart, 1997), represents a factor of relevant strategic importance. Therefore it is a necessity to evaluate this resource that, however, is difficult to measure in economical-financial terms using standard metrics and accounting systems (Bontis, 1998). Numerous studies (Bontis, 1997; White et al., 1994) showed that those companies that widely use their IC, are estimated by the market much more than their “book value”, showing a Tobis’q value much greater than the unit. Analysis and reporting of intellectual capital through the development of specific nonfinancial tools directed to measure it, are of great importance for companies because: • they allow managers to obtain useful information in the management control field, regarding an intangible strategic resource for the activity and the survival of the company. Therefore it is possible to plan wiser policies and strategic choices, on the basis of that information (Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, 2003; Darroch et al., 2003; Guthrie, 2001; Van der Meer-Kooistra et al., 2001); • they show the market information about the state and development of the IC, allowing the company to obtain from the market a real valuation of its assets (material and immaterial), which couldn’t be given through the traditional economical-financial reports (Hunter et al., 2005; Marr et al., 2003). By the use of nonfinancial measurement systems the company gets valued at a more accurate level than is possible without the disclosure of the performance of intangible assets. In this context our research places itself with the aim to develop and to implement a system for measuring, evaluating and reporting intellectual capital. In particular the purpose of this study is threefold in that it seeks: • to operationalize the construct of IC and to develop an IC evaluation model; • to analyze the relations among the different dimensions of IC; • to define an index of IC that gives information relative to the creation and development of this organizational resource.