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2014
Conference Paper
Titel
Strategic intellectual capital management as a driver of organisational innovation
Abstract
Enterprises are facing transforming framework conditions that are manifesting on several levels. Increased competition from emerging markets, limited availability of resources as well as political and societal requirements with regard to the sustainability of enterprises' operations are only an extract of changing factors of influence. The capability to innovate has proven to be a strong competitive advantage and is to be assessed as a major success factor to limit the exposure to the intensified competitive (Schmeisser et. al. 2010), normative or even legal pressure especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Design/methodology/approach - In order to identify and describe the interdependences between intangible resources, their management and innovation capabilities the principal terms are put into focus at first. Building up on the theoretical explanations and taking the management method "Intellectual Capital Statement - Made in Germany" as a starting point the interdependencies between intellectual capital and product innovation as well as process optimisation and innovation are analysed. Within this article the interdependences between the standard intellectual capital factors are investigated with regard to product and process innovation on the basis of 38 Intellectual Capital Statements of German enterprises. Originality/value - The significance of intangible resources for business success has evidently increased and may in some cases already be assessed as higher than the impact of tangible resources. Analyses have indicated some intellectual capital factors as the most prominent and important, yet the impact on the intra- and inter-organizational innovation ecosystems has not been analysed thoroughly. Although the most important factors of intellectual capital are identified, the specific drivers for innovation have not been investigated. This paper seeks to close this gap and draw meaningful conclusions with regard to drivers of innovation and related differences between manufacturing and service enterprises. Practical implications - The analysis of the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation capabilities allows statements regarding the intellectual capital factors, onto which enterprises should be focused in order to foster innovation. The qualitative content-related analysis of the 38 intellectual capital statements with regard to the consideration of new and different types of innovation management methodologies allows the identification of existing gaps in intellectual capital management. The close examination of the framework of new types of innovation and cross-reference to practical interdependences shall establish the theoretical basis for future case studies with enterprises that have the objective of establishing new types of innovation to continue this very research.