Managers’ perceptions of intellectual capital: An empirical study in the Tunisian context

Mohamed Ali Boujelbene,Habib Affes

doi:10.5267/j.msl.2013.04.011

Abstract

Article history: Received January 14, 2013 Received in revised format 12 April 2013 Accepted 14 April 2013 Available online April 16 2013 The purpose of this exploratory research study is to examine the extent of recognition of the concept of intellectual capital in the Tunisian context and to identify the perceptions of managers concerning the accounting treatment and disclosure of this hidden concept. A survey questionnaire was conducted among 51 Tunisian managers. The results of this survey argue that the majority of respondents perceive the elements of intellectual capital as important value drivers for their business. This study shows that managers are aware of the shortcoming of the present accounting system and they approve previous studies that propose voluntary disclosure of information relating to intellectual capital as a solution to compensate for the loss of relevance of traditional accounting information. The present study presents a significant interest in the accounting literature and provides whether it would be appropriate for the Tunisian accounting standard setter to ask companies to disclose more intellectual capital information.

Highlights

Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth in the significance of intangible in driving business success
There seems to be a consensus in the accounting literature that intellectual capital is defined as “non-physical resources of value generated by innovation, organizational structure and human resource practices” (Lev, 2001)
This study does not attempt to generalize the results, it can provide some descriptive statistics on the perceptions of managers to the importance of intellectual capital, its recognition and voluntary disclosure of information relating to this hidden capital

Summary

Introduction

Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth in the significance of intangible in driving business success. The shift from industrial age to the information age is changing the structure of global economy, and highlighting the importance of intangibles or intellectual capital. There seems to be general consensus that intellectual capital is an integral part of a firm’s value-creating processes and is important for creating and maintaining competitive advantage (OCDE, 2006; Holland, 2006; Wagiciengo & Belal, 2012). Despite the increase awareness given to intangibles, there is a collective lack of understanding and difficulty to link with financial reports (Lev & Zambon, 2003).the study of intangibles or intellectual capital has become an important accounting issue in both academia and practice. There seems to be a consensus in the accounting literature that intellectual capital is defined as “non-physical resources of value generated by innovation, organizational structure and human resource practices” (Lev, 2001)

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Conclusion