在知識經濟時代，組織價值來源已由實質的土地、廠房、設備等有形資本，轉變為以「知識」為主體的無形「智慧資本」(Intellectual Capital， IC)，是指能使組織提升競爭力與市場價值之所有知識、技術、關係與機制之總和，智慧資本三大內涵包括人力資本、結構資本與關係資本，其原本就存在組織之中，並非近來才有之新產物，只是過去論及績效時多側重財務數字，對無形資本價值較為疏忽，也無法以系統化架構檢視組織內部IC之發展。1990年以來，國外學者與實務界紛紛重視IC的研究與導入，IC遂成為21世紀組織創造競爭力之管理新趨勢。 本研究旨在探討高等教育機構智慧資本對組織績效之影響，並試圖驗證結構資本與關係資本之中介效果。資料蒐集來源為美國新聞與世界報導以及普林斯頓評論兩大資料庫2003年至2006年之跨年度資料，藉以驗證132所美國知名大學在智慧資本與組織績效間之關係。研究結果發現高素質人力資本為學校帶來高績效，且關係資本在人力資本與組織績效間具有中介效果，但結構資本則在人力資本與組織績效之關係未造成中介效果， / In the age of knowledge economy, the value of an organization has shifted from land, factories, equipments and other tangible assets to Intellectual Capital (IC). IC refers to the total sum of knowledge, technology, relationship and mechanism that could increase the competitiveness and market value of an organization. The three main components of IC are human capital, structural capital, and relational capital. In the past, although existing, these three capitals were neglected because financial figures in the accounting system could not capture their value. The purpose of this study is to explore IC in higher education and verify the relationship between the three capitals and school performance of 132 higher education institutions in the U.S. By using the 2003-2006 databases from US NEWS and Princeton Review, research result shows that more human capital corresponds to more relational capital; more human capital corresponds to better performance. In addition, structural capital does not mediate the relationship between human capital and performance; relational capital has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between human capital and performance; and structural capital does not mediate the relationship between human capital and relational capital.

La théorie des ressources affirme que les avantages concurrentiels résident dans la mobilisation des actifs précieux qui sont difficiles à imiter. L'Approche du Capital Immatériel (ACI) prolonge cet argument en étudiant ces ressources; plus particulièrement celles qui sont fondées sur la connaissance et qui peuvent être classifiées dans l'une des catégories suivantes: Capital Humain, Capital Structurel, ou Capital Relationnel.Cette thèse cherche à évaluer l'ACI en tant que cadre pour rechercher les conditions favorables permettant aux entreprises d'innover en créant des nouveaux biens et services (produits). Spécifiquement, ce projet doctoral vise à analyser les rôles de chaque type de capital immatériel dans l'innovation de produits. Fondée sur des données européennes, cette thèse examine différents types d'entreprises (nouvelles, petites et moyennes entreprises, et grandes entreprises) et les secteurs d'activités (y compris l'industrie et les services). Le Chapitre 1 examine le capital humain et d'autres déterminants du taux de création d'entreprises dans les villes européennes. Ensuite, le Chapitre 2 examine l'impact de la diffusion des connaissances sur la façon dont l'investissement en R&D interne apporte à l'innovation de produits. Puis, le Chapitre 3 utilise le concept de capacité d'absorption pour explorer comment les similarités des actifs immatériels entre les entreprises sont associées à la performance de leur capital relationnel.En général, ce projet doctoral souligne que l'ACI fournit un cadre propice pour formuler et vérifier des hypothèses concernant les moteurs de l'innovation de produits. Il permet de mener des études portant sur la façon dont les entreprises mobilisent leurs actifs immatériels afin de développer et commercialiser de nouveaux produits. Par ailleurs, cette approche facilite l'interprétation des résultats afin de recommander des décisions managériales et des politiques publiques visant à articuler davantage les pratiques des entreprises. / The resource-based view of the firm argues that competitive advantages lie in the use of valuable resources that are difficult to emulate. The intellectual capital-based view (ICV) extends this argument by studying such resources; particularly intangible (or knowledge) assets that may be classified in three main components: human, structural, and relational capital.This thesis aims to evaluate the ICV as a framework for understanding the favorable conditions that allow firms to innovate by creating new goods and services (i.e., products). Specifically, this thesis seeks to analyze the specific roles of each capital capital component in product innovation. Using European data, it covers an ample range of firm types (i.e, nascent firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large firms) and business sectors (including manufacturing and services). Chapter 1 investigates human capital and other determinants of business creation as a measure of entrepreneurship in European cities. Chapter 2 examines the impact of knowledge spillovers on in-house R&D investment and innovation performance in firms. Chapter 3 leverages the concept of absorptive capacity to explore whether similar configurations of IC are associated with the performance of relational capital in companies.Overall, this dissertation finds that the ICV provides a fertile ground to formulate and test hypotheses concerning the drivers of product innovation. It allows to focus research on how companies mobilize intangible assets in order to develop and commercialize new goods and services. Furthermore, this approach provides several lessons for managers and policy recommendations that may help to articulate corporate practices.

Questo lavoro di ricerca poggia sulla solida convinzione che sia necessario un salto di qualità sia negli investimenti in capitale intellettuale che nelle pratiche di gestione manageriale, al fine di attivare un processo di crescita di lungo corso che duri nel tempo. Dal momento che l'economia della conoscenza riveste una sempre maggiore importanza, questo studio ha verificato gli effetti che le pratiche HR e le capacità di rinnovamento possono esercitare sul capitale intellettuale al fine di creare un vantaggio competitivo sostenibile. Il modello adottato ha considerato il capitale intellettuale come la somma di tre componenti: capitale umano, capitale relazionale e capitale strutturale. In un ambiente dinamico, come l'attuale, il capitale intellettuale può essere il fattore chiave per ottenere un vantaggio competitivo sostenibile, dal momento che è raro, di valore e difficile da imitare o sostituire. Per questa ragione, il presente studio ha esaminato gli elementi decisivi per la gestione del capitale intellettuale in un ambiente competitivo turbolento valutando l'impatto delle componenti del capitale intellettuale sulla soddisfazione dei dipendenti e la qualità del servizio. I dati analizzati nell'ambito di questa ricerca sono stati raccolti attraverso questionari a cui hanno risposto varie realtà operanti nel settore finanziario in Italia e alcuni dei loro partner, operanti nel settore ICT, specializzati in attività ad alta intensità di capitale umano come lo sviluppo di applicazioni informatiche. Sono state individuati alcuni importanti risultati. In primo luogo, le capacità di rinnovamento mediano la relazione tra le pratiche HR e le componenti del capitale intellettuale. In secondo luogo, il capitale umano ha un impatto positivo diretto sulla qualità del servizio. In terzo luogo, il capitale strutturale influenza positivamente la soddisfazione dei collaboratori. Quindi, la soddisfazione dei collaboratori e la qualità del servizio sono alimentati e sostenuti da differenti fattori chiave: il capitale strutturale e il capitale umano rispettivamente. Da una prospettiva pratica e manageriale questi risultati sono molto interessanti al fine di deliberare l'allocazione delle risorse aziendali per ottenere delle configurazioni di capitale intellettuale efficaci. Le ricerche future potrebbero indagare i contribuiti dei differenti portatori d'interesse sugli antecedenti e conseguenti del capitale intellettuale valutando la capacità di produrre valore e, come conseguenza, la soddisfazione dei portatori d'interesse adottando un approccio di tipo managing-for-stakeholders. I fornitori e i clienti rivestono un ruolo centrale nelle dinamiche aziendali e per questo meritano particolare attenzione negli studi che saranno svolti nel prossimo futuro. / This work is rooted in the conviction that our economies need both better investments in intellectual capital and better management practices in order to achieve higher long-term growth. Starting acknowledging the increasing importance of the knowledge economy phenomenon, this study assessed the effects that HR practices and renewal capability can exert on firm’s intellectual capital in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The adopted model has considered intellectual capital as the sum of three components: human capital, relational capital and structural capital. In a dynamic environment, such as today’s competitive arena, intellectual capital can be the key factor to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is rare, valuable and difficult to imitate or substitute. For this reason, the present study has examined the key drivers to manage intellectual capital in a turbulent environment evaluating the impact of firm’s intellectual capital components on employees’ satisfaction and service quality. This research has gathered data through surveys of various Italian business units operating in the financial sector and some of their ICT partners specialised in human capital-intensive activities such as software development. A set of findings has been generated. First, renewal capability mediates the relationships between HR practices and all intellectual capital components. Second, human capital has a direct positive relationship with service quality. Third, structural capital has a direct positive relationship with employees’ satisfaction. Hence, employees’ satisfaction and service quality are nurtured and fostered by different crucial drivers: structural capital and human capital respectively. From a managerial and practical perspective these findings are very interesting in order to deliberating the allocation of firms’ resources to obtain effective intellectual capital configurations. Future researches may investigate the contributions of different stakeholders to the antecedents of intellectual capital as well as the contributions to its consequences in order to produce value and, in turn, stakeholders’ satisfaction adopting a managing-for-stakeholders approach. Suppliers and customers play a central role and for this reason they deserve particular attention in future studies.

I dagsläget finns det ett stort gap mellan det bokförda värde till vilket organisationer värderar sina tillgångar och det marknadsvärde till vilket organisationerna är värderade. Vad detta osynliga värde består av kan delvis beröra något som teoretiker och praktiker kommit att kalla intellektuellt kapital (IC). IC består av bland annat anställda, kompetens, strukturer, system, kundbaser och relationer. I dagens kunskapsföretag kan detta omfatta stora delar av företagens tillgångar. Anledningen till att detta gap uppstår beror till stor del på en problematik att värdera dessa tillgångar inom IC med det nuvarande ramverket för redovisning. Då det inte existerar några lagar gällande hur IC ska redovisas har företagen hamnat i en situation där detta sker genom frivillig redovisning. Detta tar sig i uttryck på olika sätt, vilket skapar spretiga presentationer inom ett redovisningsfält som annars styrs av en röd tråd och kontinuitet. Ett kommunikationsmedel som kommit att användas för att presentera information om IC är årsredovisningen.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur, i termer av omfattning, företag inom rekryterings- och bemanningsbranschen presenterar information om IC i sina årsredovisningar. För att studera IC används begreppen humankapital, strukturkapital och relationskapital vilka utgör en väl vedertagen uppdelning. Dessa bryts ned i ett antal indikatorer vilka undersöks. Metoden som används för att besvara studiens frågeställningar är en kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Detta med bakgrund av att det är ett effektivt medel för att studera mönster i kommunikation och göra bedömningar av förmedlad information.Resultatet från studien talar för att relationskapitalet är det som generellt rapporteras mest, följt av humankapital och slutligen strukturkapital. Det framgår att samtliga företag redovisar information om IC i sina årsredovisningar, och samlat utgör medelvärdet och medianen för redovisningen över hundra rapporterade indikatorer per företag. Det förekommer vissa skillnader mellan vilka faktorer som mest frekvent redovisas hos företagen, där exempelvis två av företagen redovisade humankapital mer och några andra företag redovisade betydligt mycket mer IC generellt. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån ett antal redovisningsteoretiska utgångspunkter och det framgår att det skulle kunna röra sig om geografiska och nationella skillnader. Det som slutligen kan fastslås är att företagen tycks lägga stort fokus på att redovisa information om kunder, anställda och olika partners. Det var vanligt förekommande att olika nöjdhetsindex presenterades för att visa hur bra dessa behandlas. Det som var utmärkande inom redovisningen av strukturkapitalet var att företagen lade mest vikt på att redovisa information om kultur inom organisationerna. / There is a significant gap between the book value in which companies’ valuate their assets and the market value. What this invisible value consists of is something that theorists and practitioners are calling intellectual capital (IC). IC contains information about employees, competence, structures, systems, customer base and relations, to mention a few. In today’s knowledge-based companies, the IC is often a vast part of a company’s assets. The reason this gap exists is because of shortcomings in today’s restrictions and laws within accounting. Because there are no laws regarding how the IC should be reported, companies have found themselves in a position where this occurs through voluntarily disclosure. This is expressed in different ways, which creates straggling presentations of IC within an otherwise structured accounting field. A mean for communication of companies’ IC is through the annual report.The purpose of this study is to examine, in terms of the extent, how companies within the recruitment and staffing industry presents information about IC in their annual reports and to compare the companies to each other. To study IC, the terms human capital, structure capital and relational capital is used. These are broken down into several indicators that are examined. A quantitative content analysis is used as a research method to answer the research question. This is used because of its efficiency in studying patterns in communication and later drawing conclusions about a given set of information.The result of the study proves that the relational capital is what is most frequently reported, followed by human capital and lastly structure capital. It appears that all companies disclose information about IC in their annual reports, and that together the mean and median of indicators reported exceeds one hundred. However, there are a few differences among the organizations regarding the most frequently reported factors. For instance, two of the companies reported most of human capital, while other reported more IC in general. The results are discussed from an accounting theoretical approach, and factors including geographical and national differences seem to influence the IC reporting. What is finally concluded is that companies tend to put focus on reporting information about customers, employees, and partners. It was common that companies disclosed information about indexes where employee, customer and partner satisfaction was highlighted. What was remarkable within the disclosure regarding structure capital was that the companies focused mostly on information about the culture within the organizations.

Titel: Svenska företags redovisning av intellektuellt kapital i spåren av covid-19-pandemin -En kvantitativ studie av 120 börsnoterade företag Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Hanna Lindström och Saga Djäkner Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2023 - maj Syfte: I början av år 2020 drabbades världen av en pandemi som haft betydande påverkan på stora delar av samhället, såväl människor som företag. I svåra ekonomiska tider kan företagen behöva framhäva andra kvalitéer inom bolaget än de finansiella. Tidigare forskning visar hur redovisningen av intellektuellt kapital ökat under ekonomiska kriser, som finanskrisen eller generellt under en lågkonjunktur. Vi såg därför en möjlighet att bidra till att fylla ett kunskapsgap och undersöka om covid-19-pandemin har fått företagen att öka eller minska sin redovisningsmängd av intellektuellt kapital. Syftet med studien är därmed att utifrån finansiella rapporter undersöka om den frivilliga redovisningen av intellektuellt kapital i svenska börsnoterade företag har minskat eller ökat på grund av covid-19-pandemin. För att uppfylla syftet har vi formulerat två frågeställningar som vi besvarat i studien. Metod: Metoden vi har tillämpat i denna studie är en kvantitativ metod. En innehållsanalys har använts genom ett index av sökord och kodning. Därefter har det genomförts en korrelationsanalys mellan de oberoende variablerna bransch och företagsstorlek. Därefter har vi utfört två multipla regressionsanalyser mellan beroende variablerna (redovisningsmängd 2019 samt 2021) och de oberoende variablerna. Datan för studien har samlats in genom Nasdaq där studien har begränsats till svenska företag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen som har sina årsredovisningar tillgängliga på engelska för år 2019 respektive 2021. Resultat och slutsats: Slutsatsen för studien är att redovisningen av intellektuellt kapital har ökat mellan år 2019 och 2021. Det går däremot inte att fastställa att ökningen är helt eller delvis på grund av coronapandemin. Studien påvisar ett statistiskt säkerställt samband mellan företagens storlek och deras benägenhet att redovisa intellektuellt kapital. Ett statistiskt säkerställt samband fanns däremot inte mellan branschen respektive företag var verksam i och deras redovisningsnivå av intellektuellt kapital. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat anser vi kan hjälpa företag att få en ökad kunskap om ämnet intellektuellt kapital och därtill hur redovisningen av fenomenet kan utgöra en fördel för företagen, speciellt under en finansiell kris. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Baserat på studiens resultat ser vi en möjlighet för framtida forskning att bygga vidare på vår studie och utföra en kvalitativ studie där företagen själva får motivera anledningen bakom ökad redovisningsnivå av intellektuellt kapital. Ännu ett förslag till framtida forskning är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan försämrad lönsamhet och högre redovisningsnivå av intellektuellt kapital. / Title: Swedish companies level of disclosure regarding intellectual capital in the wake of the covid-19-pandemic - A quantitative study of 120 listed companies. Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Author: Hanna Lindström and Saga Djäkner Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2023 - May Aim: Early year 2020, the world experienced the beginning of a pandemic. Since then, this pandemic has had a major influence in the life of both humans and cooperations. Companies were forced to adjust their way of doing business, creating safe working environments but also cutting down operations and workforce. At the same time, a crisis could also mean a need to highlight other qualities than just financial, as the latter tends to underperform. Previous research has proven an increase in the level of disclosure of intellectual capital following a financial crisis. This pandemic could be seen as a new phenomenon, therefore we found a possible knowledge gap to fill by examining if the covid-19-pandemic affected the level of disclosure regarding intellectual capital. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate, based on annual reports, whether the voluntary intellectual capital disclosure of Swedish listed companies has increased or decreased due to the covid-19-pandemic. To fulfill our purpose, two research questions were defined and later on answered.  Method: We applied a quantitative method with the data collected from companies on Nasdaq Stockholm. A content analysis were performed by using indexes of keywords and coding. We carried out a correlation analysis between the independent variables in order to facilitate a multiple regression analysis of the disclosure level due to size or industry in 2021 as well as 2019. The study has been limited to listed Swedish companies that have had their annual reports for 2019 and 2021 available in English. Results and conclusions: We found that the disclosure level of intellectual capital increased from 2019 to 2021. Although it cannot be determined that the increase is entirely or partly due to the covid-19-pandemic. The study shows a statistically reliable relationship between the size of the companies and their disclosure level of intellectual capital. However, a statistically reliable relationship could not be found between the companies disclosure level and theindustries they operate in. Contribution of the thesis: We believe that the results of the study could help companies gain an increased knowledge of the subject of intellectual capital and, in addition, how the disclosing level could act as an advantage for companies, especially during a financial crisis. Suggestions for future research: Based on the result of this study, we see an opportunity for future studies to conduct a qualitative study where the companies themselves can explain the reason behind the increased disclosure level of intellectual capital. Another suggestion may be to examine whether there is a relationship between declining profitability and a higher level of intellectual capital disclosure.

La constatazione che in ambito sanitario il prodotto finale dei processi terapeutico-assistenziali, ovvero il miglioramento delle condizioni di salute dei cittadini, non possa essere definito soltanto in termini puramente economici e in un contesto in cui gli aspetti monetari costituiscono il perno intorno al quale si muovono tutte le strategie politiche, sociali ed economiche nazionali ed europee, costituisce il primum movens di questo progetto di ricerca. L’Azienda Sanitaria rappresenta, infatti, un locus in cui si embricano e sovrappongono le esigenze di numerose categorie di stakeholders (politici, fornitori, utenti e lavoratori) che, pur calati in un ambiente che possiede caratteristiche aziendali indissociabili da valutazioni finanziarie, non possono considerarsi esaurite nelle sole dimensioni economico-monetarie. Il valore finale dei processi di output di un’Azienda Sanitaria, sinteticamente riassumibile nel concetto di “soddisfacimento dei bisogni di salute della popolazione” riconosce, fra le componenti intrinseche del processo produttivo, cogenti sollecitazioni di carattere etico che presuppongono il rispetto di garanzie di equità, legittimità e imparzialità, irrinunciabili nella costruzione del prodotto finale. Questo lavoro di ricerca concentra, quindi, la propria attenzione sul processo di creazione di valore nell’Azienda Sanitaria, a partire dalle suggestioni bibliografiche inerenti le principali variabili economiche e organizzative, per giungere a indagare le corrispondenze derivanti dalle componenti intangibili. / The finding that the final product in the health-care therapeutic process, namely the improvement of citizens' health, can not only be defined in purely economic terms and in a context where the monetary aspects are the pivot around which move all the political strategies, social and economic national and European, it is the primary cause of this research project. The Health Service is, in fact, a locus where they overlap the needs of various categories of stakeholders (politicians, suppliers, users and workers) who, although dropped in an environment that has business features inseparable from financial ratings, were not exhausted only in the economic and monetary dimensions. The final value of the output processes of a company Health, succinctly summed up in the concept of "meeting the health needs of the population" recognizes, among the intrinsic components of the production process, mandatory stress ethical which require compliance with guarantees of fairness , legitimacy and impartiality, essential in the construction of the final product. This research focuses, therefore, its attention on the process of value creation in the Company Health, from bibliographical suggestions regarding the main economic and organizational variables, to come to investigate the matches resulting from intangible assets.