Intellectual capital and SMEs’ performance: A structured literature review

ABSTRACT

The role played by intellectual capital (IC) is crucial in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Nonetheless, IC literature focusing on SMEs settings is limited and fragmented. This study provides a structured literature review (SLR) of existing evidence related to the effect of IC on SMEs performance. Findings show that strategic outcomes – such as innovation, knowledge management, and core competencies – and corporate performance of SMEs are impacted by IC. Further research could analyze the impact of IC on other determinants of SMEs’ performance such as learning organization, conversation management, and invisible assets.

KEYWORDS:

• Intellectual capital
• structured literature review
• performance

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, George Solomon, and the participants to the 5th Business Systems Laboratory International Symposium for their useful comments. The authors are also responsible for the findings, recommendations and errors of the manuscript.