Towards a Deeper Understanding of Intellectual Capital

Abstract

This paper takes its cue from a paper by Kianto and Cabrilo (2022) presented at ECKM 2022. In their paper they raise concerns both with the theoretic underpinnings of the theory of Intellectual Capital and the more specific need to consider the impacts on new technologies and work structures. In the existing literature it has been proposed that Intellectual Capital is composed of a variety of components which have often been addressed somewhat independently. It is important to both investigate the nature of these sub-components and recognize the extent to which they interact. Some key concerns with Intellectual Capital and its subcomponents are discussed including their valuation, which presents significant challenges to traditional approaches of valuation. Other notable concerns relate to the underlying conceptual structure for Intellectual Capital, which needs further study with respect to its general intelligibility, its explanatory value, and in the light of major technological changes and the phenomenon of digitization.