Intellectual Capital and Its Impact on the Financial Performance of Russian Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

It has been argued that intellectual capital (IC) is the key element of value creation in the contemporary economy. According to expert calculations, in the 1980s the share of tangible assets accounted for about 62% of market capitalization of companies on developed markets. However, by the start of the 2000s, their share fell to 16%. This has been widely supported by empirical research, but mainly based on the data from developed markets. The questions as to how IC and its elements work on emerging markets remains under-researched due to a lack of empirical research devoted to this topic. The aim of the study is to provide empirical insight into the relationship between three main elements of IC (human, relational and structural) and the organisational performance of Russian companies, such as asset profitability, net sales growth and market share. The sample includes 240 Russian companies. Information about different elements of intellectual capital has been gathered with the help of a questionnaire that has been answered by the executive management of the companies included in the sample over the course of January-March 2015. The data was collected with a survey using the scales that have already been applied internationally. The findings based on regression analysis demonstrate that structural and human capital positively influence organisational performance, while relational capital does not. We can assume that the results we obtained can be explained by the specific features of the analysed industries. For manufacturing companies, organisational structure and the effectiveness of internal processes play a much more important role in company value creation than relationships with customers and other stakeholders. The core managerial implication of this study is that building structural capital, providing employees with efficient and relevant information systems and tools to support cooperation between employees, as well as carefully documenting organisational knowledge and making it easily accessible for employees, should be in the focus of the managers of manufacturing companies. The concept of IC management in our article was developed within the international context and focuses on emerging markets. At the end of the paper, the main areas for further research are presented.