The Effects of Intellectual Capital on Firms’ Sustainable Growth: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aims to review the effects of intellectual capital on enterprises' sustainable growth and proposes a research agenda to the literature. Seven relevant studies published in journals indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus were selected and reviewed by systematically searching the relevant database. The study applied the co-occurrence technique by the VOSviewer application to detect the limitations of prior studies. Review results reveal that intellectual capital is measured by many different methods and comprises many components. Most empirical studies concluded the positive effect of enterprises’ intellectual capital on sustainable growth. However, others only find out the general effect of intellectual capital on sustainable growth or the effect of some components of intellectual capital on sustainable growth. Building upon such research gaps, the study proposes a model for such a relationship and the moderating role of the management experience of the top management team on the association to improve the robustness of future studies in the field.
Keywords:
Intellectual capital, sustainable growth, top management team.
References
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Dut, V. Van, Akbar, Y. H., & Loc, T. D. (2021). The moderating role of subsidiary size on the association between institutional distance and subsidiary’saccessto complementary local assets: evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Asia Business Studies. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-10-2020-0409 ©
Dut, V. Van, Chris, R., & Dang, N. H. (2021). The moderating role of R&D intensity on the association between external embeddedness and subsidiary product innovation: evidence from Vietnam. Asia Pacific Business Review, 1–26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2021.1958474
Dut, V. Van, Yusaf, H. A., Dang, N. H., & Hanh, N. K. (2018). The Impact of Institutional Distance on the Choice of Multinational Enterprise’s Entry Mode: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Vietnam. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, 11(1), 71–95.
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Luc, P. T., Angelina, N. H. L., & Lan, P. X. (2020). A Systematic Literature Review on Social Entrepreneurial Intention. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2019.1640770
Mamilla, R. (2019). A study on sustainable growth rate for firm survival. Strategic Change, 28(4), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2269
McFaddin, S., & Clouse, M. (1993). A new model for sustainable growth in the energy industry. Energy Economics, 15(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-9883(93)90036-Q
Mukherjee, T., & Sen, S. S. (2019). Intellectual Capital and Corporate Sustainable Growth: The Indian Evidence. Journal of Business Economics and Environmental Studies, 9(2), 5–15. https://doi.org/10.13106/jbees.2019.vol9.no2.5
Ocak, M., & Findik, D. (2019). The impact of intangible assets and sub-components of intangible assets on sustainable growth and firm value: Evidence from Turkish listed firms. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(19), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195359
Ovechkin, D., Boldyreva, N., & Davydenko, V. (2021). Intellectual capital and value: testing new IC measures in Russia. Journal of Economic Studies, 48(6), 1111–1127. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-05-2020-0226
Penrose, E. T. (1959). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm,. In Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Petty, R., & Cuganesan, S. (2005). Voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital by Hong Kong companies: examining size, industry and growth effects over time. Australian Accounting Review, 15(2), 40–50.
Rappaport, A. (1978). Executive incentives vs corporate growth. Harvard Business Review, 56(4), 81–88.
Singh, D. A., Gaur, A. S., & Schmid, F. P. (2010). Corporate diversification, TMT experience, and performance: Evidence from German SMEs. Management International Review, 50(1), 35–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-009-0025-4
Stewart, T. A. (1997). Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations. Doubleday, New York.
Van Eck, N., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software Survey: VOSviewer, a Computer Program for Bibliometric Mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3.
Van Horne, J. C. (1988). Sustainable growth modeling. Journal of Corporate Finance, 1, 19–25.
Van Horne, J. C., & Wachowicz, J. M. (2015). Fundamentals of Financial Management. India: PHI Learning Private Limited.
Wallace, M., & Wray, A. (2016). Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates. In Second edition (Ed.), SAGE Publications, London.
Xia, N., Zou, P. X., Griffin, M. A., Wang, X., & Zhong, R. (2018). “Towards Integrating Construction Risk Management and Stakeholder Management: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agendas.” International Journal of Project Management, 36(5), 701–715. https://doi.org/doi:10.1016/j. ijproman.2018.03.006.
Xu, J., & Wang, B. (2018). Intellectual capital, financial performance and companies’ sustainable growth: Evidence from the Korean manufacturing industry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(12), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124651
Xu, J., & Wang, B. (2019). Intellectual capital performance of the textile industry in emerging markets: A comparison with China and South Korea. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(8), 273–290. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082354
Xu, X. L., Chen, H. H., & Zhang, R. R. (2020). The impact of intellectual capital efficiency on corporate sustainable growth-evidence from smart agriculture in China. Agriculture (Switzerland), 10(6), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10060199
Xu, X. L., Li, J., Wu, D., & Zhang, X. (2021). The intellectual capital efficiency and corporate sustainable growth nexus: comparison from agriculture, tourism and renewable energy sector. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23, 16038–16056. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01319-x
An, X. Y., & Wu, Q. Q. (2011). Co-word analysis of the trends in stem cells field based on subject heading weighting. Scientometrics, 88(1), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-011-0374-1
Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/doi:10.1177/014920639101700108
Becker, G. S. (1962). Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 70(5), 9–49. https://doi.org/10.1086/258724
Bontis, N., Dragonetti, N. C., Jacobsen, K., & Roos, G. (1999). The knowledge toolbox: A review of the tools available to measure and manage intangible resources. European Management Journal, 17(4), 391–402. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315748979-15
Brooking, A. (1997). The management of intellectual capital. Long Range Planning, 30(3), 364–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0024-6301(97)80911-9
Chen, X., Chen, J., Wu, D., Xie, Y., & Li, J. (2016). Mapping the Research Trends by Co-word Analysis Based on Keywords from Funded Project. Procedia Computer Science, 91(Itqm), 547–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.140
Colley, J., Doyle, J., & Hardie, R. D. (2002). Corporate Strategy: How to Restructure a Business Unit to Best Support Corporate Goals. USA.
Díaz-Fernández, M. C., González-Rodríguez, M. R., & Simonetti, B. (2015). Top management team’s intellectual capital and firm performance. European Management Journal, 33(5), 322–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2015.03.004
Drucker, P. F. (1993). The rise of the knowledge society. The Wilson Quarterly, 17(2), 52–57.
Dut, V. Van, Akbar, Y. H., & Loc, T. D. (2021). The moderating role of subsidiary size on the association between institutional distance and subsidiary’saccessto complementary local assets: evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Asia Business Studies. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-10-2020-0409 ©
Dut, V. Van, Chris, R., & Dang, N. H. (2021). The moderating role of R&D intensity on the association between external embeddedness and subsidiary product innovation: evidence from Vietnam. Asia Pacific Business Review, 1–26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2021.1958474
Dut, V. Van, Yusaf, H. A., Dang, N. H., & Hanh, N. K. (2018). The Impact of Institutional Distance on the Choice of Multinational Enterprise’s Entry Mode: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Vietnam. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, 11(1), 71–95.
Edvinsson, L. (1997). Developing intellectual capital at Skandia. Long Range Planning, 30(3), 320–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0024-6301(97)00016-2
Efni, Y., Halawa, S. D., & Indrawati, N. (2021). Intellectual Capital and Good Corporate Governance on Firm Value and Corporate Sustainable Growth. GIS Business, 16(2), 66–77. https://gisbusiness.org/index.php/gis/article/view/20311
Fonseka, M. M., Ramos, C. G., & Tian, G. L. (2012). The most appropriate sustainable growth rate model for managers and researchers. Journal of Applied Business Research, 28(3), 481–500 . https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v28i3.6963
Garnsey, E. (1998). A Theory of the Early Growth of the Firm. Industrial and Corporate Change, 7(3), 523–556. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/7.3.523
Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper Echelons : The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 193–206. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2307/258434.
Higgins, R. C. (1977). How much growth can firm afford ? Jornal Financial Management, 6(3), 7–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2307/3665251.
Huang, R., & Liu, G. (2009). Study on the Enterprise Sustainable Growth and the Leverage Mechanism. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), 200–205. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v4n3p200
Ionita, C., & Dinu, E. (2021). The effect of intangible assets on sustainable growth and firm value – Evidence on intellectual capital investment in companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange. Kybernetes, 50(10), 2823–2849. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-05-2020-0325
Kor, Y. Y. (2003). Experience-Based Top Management Team Competence and Sustained Growth. Organization Science, 14(6), 707–719. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.14.6.707.24867
Lu, Y., Li, G., Luo, Z., Anwar, M., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Does Intellectual Capital Spur Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Sustainable Growth?: A Study of Chinese and Pakistani Firms. SAGE Open, 11(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244021996702
Luc, P. T., Angelina, N. H. L., & Lan, P. X. (2020). A Systematic Literature Review on Social Entrepreneurial Intention. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2019.1640770
Mamilla, R. (2019). A study on sustainable growth rate for firm survival. Strategic Change, 28(4), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2269
McFaddin, S., & Clouse, M. (1993). A new model for sustainable growth in the energy industry. Energy Economics, 15(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-9883(93)90036-Q
Mukherjee, T., & Sen, S. S. (2019). Intellectual Capital and Corporate Sustainable Growth: The Indian Evidence. Journal of Business Economics and Environmental Studies, 9(2), 5–15. https://doi.org/10.13106/jbees.2019.vol9.no2.5
Ocak, M., & Findik, D. (2019). The impact of intangible assets and sub-components of intangible assets on sustainable growth and firm value: Evidence from Turkish listed firms. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(19), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195359
Ovechkin, D., Boldyreva, N., & Davydenko, V. (2021). Intellectual capital and value: testing new IC measures in Russia. Journal of Economic Studies, 48(6), 1111–1127. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-05-2020-0226
Penrose, E. T. (1959). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm,. In Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Petty, R., & Cuganesan, S. (2005). Voluntary disclosure of intellectual capital by Hong Kong companies: examining size, industry and growth effects over time. Australian Accounting Review, 15(2), 40–50.
Rappaport, A. (1978). Executive incentives vs corporate growth. Harvard Business Review, 56(4), 81–88.
Singh, D. A., Gaur, A. S., & Schmid, F. P. (2010). Corporate diversification, TMT experience, and performance: Evidence from German SMEs. Management International Review, 50(1), 35–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-009-0025-4
Stewart, T. A. (1997). Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations. Doubleday, New York.
Van Eck, N., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software Survey: VOSviewer, a Computer Program for Bibliometric Mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3.
Van Horne, J. C. (1988). Sustainable growth modeling. Journal of Corporate Finance, 1, 19–25.
Van Horne, J. C., & Wachowicz, J. M. (2015). Fundamentals of Financial Management. India: PHI Learning Private Limited.
Wallace, M., & Wray, A. (2016). Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates. In Second edition (Ed.), SAGE Publications, London.
Xia, N., Zou, P. X., Griffin, M. A., Wang, X., & Zhong, R. (2018). “Towards Integrating Construction Risk Management and Stakeholder Management: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agendas.” International Journal of Project Management, 36(5), 701–715. https://doi.org/doi:10.1016/j. ijproman.2018.03.006.
Xu, J., & Wang, B. (2018). Intellectual capital, financial performance and companies’ sustainable growth: Evidence from the Korean manufacturing industry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(12), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124651
Xu, J., & Wang, B. (2019). Intellectual capital performance of the textile industry in emerging markets: A comparison with China and South Korea. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(8), 273–290. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082354
Xu, X. L., Chen, H. H., & Zhang, R. R. (2020). The impact of intellectual capital efficiency on corporate sustainable growth-evidence from smart agriculture in China. Agriculture (Switzerland), 10(6), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10060199
Xu, X. L., Li, J., Wu, D., & Zhang, X. (2021). The intellectual capital efficiency and corporate sustainable growth nexus: comparison from agriculture, tourism and renewable energy sector. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23, 16038–16056. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01319-x