Managers’ views on how intellectual capital is recognized and managed in practice : A multiple case study of four Swedish firms

• Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of how intellectual capital (IC) unfoldsin practice in organizations. This is done by answering the research question of how IC is recognized andmanaged in practice as expressed by managers.Design/methodology/approach – An explorative, empirical and multiple case study was conducted,investigating four Swedish firms.Findings – This paper illustrates how IC was recognized and managed in practice despite managersexpressing uncertainty of what the IC concept means. More or less direct, formalized and purposeful wayswere adopted. The IC elements and practices most important from a management perspective were thosealigned with the overall strategy, but were seldom what was visible in financial reports.Research limitations/implications – The use of an explorative, multiple case study limits thegeneralizability. However, the rich view gained of how IC unfolds in practice may not always be possibleusing large sample, survey-studies. Future research is therefore suggested to take this paper’s insightsfurther and investigate IC in other organizations and in other national contexts.Originality/value – This paper responds to the calls for third stage IC research, by showing how ICmanagement in practice may not be as clear and straightforward as researchers tend to assume. It also addsto the importance debate on IC accountingization, by reflecting on how an accounting dominance may notfully capture IC inside organizations. A number of practical contributions are also made. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Arbetslivsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Work Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Intellectual capital

Practice-based approach

Case studies

Measurement

Resource allocation

Sweden

Intellectual capital

Practice-based approach

Case studies

Measurement

Resource allocation

Sweden

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)