Intellectual capital management in practice: assessment of implementation and outcomes

Abstract

In recent decades, a huge variety of models for managing intellectual capital (IC) have been generated. However, understanding how IC management (ICM) models operate in practice and the issues that may be encountered when they are implemented remain a challenging issue. This is because there seems to be a significant gap between the enthusiastic development of ICM models in theory and the application of these models in companies. Therefore, more practically grounded research needs to be carried out. Reporting on action research projects and an interview study, this paper enriches the existing theoretical and framework-oriented IC literature by examining empirically the implementation of ICM projects and their outcomes in six Finnish companies. The findings of the paper include the challenges and success factors affecting the development of ICM projects, likewise the related outcomes and benefits. This provides useful insights for applying ICM to practice.

Keywords:

• intellectual capital
• management model
• practical application
• action research

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antti Lönnqvist

About the authors

Antti Lönnqvist is Professor in the Department of Business Information Management and Logistics at the Tampere University of Technology, Finland. He also holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Helsinki University of Technology. His research interests focus on the management of intellectual capital and business performance, especially in service organisations. Antti has published in journals, such as Information Systems Management, International Journal of Public Sector Management and the Journal of Intellectual Capital.

Virpi Sillanpää

Virpi Sillanpää received her MSc in Economics and works as a Researcher in the Performance Management Team at the Tampere University of Technology. She is carrying out her doctoral studies related to intellectual capital management in welfare services.

Daniela Carlucci

Daniela Carlucci is Assistant Professor at the University of Basilicata. Her research interests encompass knowledge management, knowledge assets and intellectual capital assessment & management, innovation, business performance measurement and management, decision making in organisations and decision support methods. Her work is published in refereed journals and books.