دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی سرمایه فکری و عملکرد مالی در شرکت های تعاونی اجتماعی - امرالد 2018

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and economic performance, with focus on social cooperative enterprises (SCEs) that work in non-profit sectors. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was developed and administered in Italy. A final sample of 151 SCEs participated in the study. Data were collected on IC measures, social enterprise activities and economic and mission-based performance outcomes. Findings – Two hypotheses that proposed a positive association between IC sub-components (i.e. human capital, structural capital and relational capital) and the economic and mission-based performance of SCEs were tested. Findings highlight that human capital contributes to explain economic performance which is positively affected by the presence of graduate employees and value added per employee. However, economic performance is negatively affected by the yearly training per employee. In addition, human and relational capital contribute to explain mission-based performance which is positively affected by yearly training, the value added per employee and the quality of relationships with customers. However, mission-based performance is negatively affected by the relationships’ quality with the reference territorial community. Therefore, relational capital would seem to affect only mission-based performance, and human capital influences both dimensions of corporate performance. Structural capital does not affect social cooperatives’ performance. Practical implications – Some of the results in this study are particular to this research setting. It is therefore important for senior leaders of SCEs to take the results of general IC literature with a grain of salt. Whereas most of the academic literature generally supports the positive relationship of all IC sub-components (i.e. human, structural and relational capital) with performance outcomes, this is not the case in this particular study. Originality/value – This is the first empirical study that has examined the linkages between IC sub-components and performance outcomes in SCEs in Italy.

7. Conclusion

The empirical analysis shows the key role of human capital for social and financial performance of SCE; also relational capital affects social performance, highlighting the importance of relationships’ quality with the reference stakeholders. The single elements of IC sub-dimensions interact with each other, activating a virtuous circle that promotes the IC development.

The main limitation of this work is represented by the restricted sample size, thus generalization must be curtailed. Moreover, the sample includes social cooperatives belonging exclusively to five specific sectors. Furthermore, there are no shared models to evaluate and estimate the effects of IC on the financial and social performance of NPOs.

These findings imply that the capability to effectively deploy corporate resources in order to produce an operating profit pursuing the corporate mission is further increased by human capital through the productivity per employee and by good relationships with stakeholders which promote the sharing of knowledge, competencies, loyalty and reciprocal trust (Alexander, 1999; Anheier, 2000; Kong, 2010).

This study tries to identify significant indicators, useful to explain the impact of IC components on economic and mission-based performance of SCEs. This identification could increase the awareness of managers about the significance of human, relational and structural capital for the non-profit sector, in order to pursue social outcomes (Benevene and Cortini, 2010; Rija and Bronzetti, 2012). This is important because the predominant extant literature focuses on empirical studies based in primarily Anglophonic settings (i.e. USA, Canada and UK) in private enterprise. Our research attempts to fill the void in studying IC within social enterprises in Italy.