Abstract
Intellectual capital (IC) is considered to be a main driver of organizational success in the knowledge economy. This study examines the impacts of three IC components, including human capital (HC), structural capital (SC), and relational capital (RC), on technological innovation and firm performance. Data are collected from 1112 manufacturing listed companies in China during 2013–17. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the results show that HC and SC exert a positive impact on firm performance while RC has a negative impact; SC has a positive influence on technological innovation while HC has a negative influence; technological innovation can enhance the firm’s performance. In addition, technological innovation partially mediates the relationship between SC and firm performance. This study will bridge the gap in research by investigating the impacts of IC components on technological innovation and firm performance in developing countries.
Highlights
Intellectual capital (IC), which is related to creating value for companies, can bring competitive advantage and superior performance to companies in the knowledge economy [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This study is to investigate the effects of three IC components (i.e., human capital (HC), structural capital (SC), and relational capital (RC)) on technological innovation and the performance of manufacturing industry in China
The main conclusions can be summarized as follows: (1) HC and SC exert a significant and positive impact on the performance of Chinese manufacturing companies, whereas RC has a negative impact on firm performance
Summary
Intellectual capital (IC), which is related to creating value for companies, can bring competitive advantage and superior performance to companies in the knowledge economy [1,2,3,4,5,6]. IC is considered an added value to physical and financial assets [7]. Some researchers [8,9,10] have asserted that manufacturing firms can improve their performance and productivity through technological innovation. Technological innovation determines a firm’s performance and its survival or extinction [11]. Trott [12] stated that innovation is an engine of growth. Manufacturing companies may implement the product differentiation strategy by product innovation and reduce manufacturing costs and shorten production cycle by process innovation
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