The HOINCAP scale: measuring intellectual capital in the hotel industry

Abstract

Intellectual capital (INCAP) emerged as a topic worthy of academic and practical investigations in the early 1990s while the research and practice of INCAP has not been popular in the hotel industry until recently. Very few measurement frameworks specified the value of INCAP in the hospitality literature. The purpose of this study is to develop a measurement scale (named hereafter the HOINCAP scale) to identify the dimensions and sub-dimensions of INCAP in the hotel industry. The three dimensions of HOINCAP – human, organizational, and customer capital – were verified through a second-order factor model composed of four, five, and six sub-dimensions. The HOINCAP scale shows strong evidence of reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The implications of the scale are discussed for future research and INCAP management in the hotel industry.

Keywords:

• intellectual capital
• scale development
• measurement
• hotel industry

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a grant from the Kyung Hee University in 2010 (KHU-20100124).

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