The submission portal for this special issue will open June 1, 2020.
Editor-in-Chief: Merrill Warkentin
Guest Editors:
Marina Dabić, Professor, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business
& Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom
[email protected]@efzg.hr or [email protected]
Timothy Scott Kiessling, Professor, Sabanci Business School, Sabanci University, Turkey
[email protected]
Vanessa Ratten, Associate Professor, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
[email protected]
Theme
Knowledge is a major source of competitive advantage with intangible assets more important than tangible ones. As innovative disruptions occur in all industries (ex. manufacturing, technological, medical, etc.), intellectual capital will be the primary creator of value. Intellectual capital has many foci units of analysis varying from the individual, organizational, and inter-organizational to the constellation of networks of firms developing competitive advantage. Intellectual capital can be embedded within an individual as tacit knowledge or developed through both organization and inter-organizational processes through established strategic partnerships and alliances (Lee, Lin and Lin, 2017). Leveraging these knowledge drivers has been shown to differentiate successful firms from those that are left behind (Kianto, Saenz and Aramburu, 2017; Xie Fang, Zeng and Huo, 2016).
Intellectual capital has traditionally been measured through human, relational, and structural factors (Buenechea-Elberdin, 2017; Teece, 2000). However, with the increased digitalization of the economy there has been a shift in how intellectual assets are defined and conceptualized (Chesbrough, Lettl and Ritter, 2018; Cortinovis, Xiao, Boschma and Van Oort, 2017). This is evident with the change in emphasis on intellectual property from a mostly product or service innovation perspective to a design element (Agostini and Nosella, 2017). This has meant the way we measure and consider intellectual property needs to be re-examined at different levels of analysis (Rossi and Magni, 2017). One way to do this is to focus on the macro, meso, or micro level, thereby enabling a closer look at how firm activities, the economy, and societal attitudes are changing (Secundo, Del Vecchio, Dumay and Passiante, 2017; Chou and Zolkiewski, 2018). This is important as intellectual capital can be difficult to evaluate so taking a triadic approach to its measurement is helpful in order to build a more progressive and contemporary understanding of the topic (Pedro, Leitao and Alves, 2018). In addition, policy makers need to stay current with emerging technological innovations and ways of thinking that influence intellectual capital developments (Obeidat, Tarhini, Masadeh and Aqqad, 2017). Thus, by acting as an entrepreneur in measuring intellectual capital it can enable a more proactive and futuristic thinking to take place that enables a better understanding of the topic (Roos, 1997; Roos, 2017).
Though we see a plethora of research published in journals and conferences, we do not see a reliable framework that places them in perspective such as matching methods with objectives, methods, and data sources. The objectives of this kind of research include policy recognition; identifying best practices, actors and opportunities; visualizing the research and knowledge landscape; and detecting the knowledge flows. We envision this special issue providing a framework so that researchers and practitioners would have strong baseline for this are.
Topics for the Special Issue
Both conceptual and empirical submissions are invited to explore intellectual capital focuses on the intellectual capital field from the individual (micro) level, the group (meso) level, the organizational (macro) level, as well as the policy level of analysis from various theoretical and practical lenses to examine its complexity and the methodologies suited to analyze this phenomenon in both the national and international arenas.
Examples of possible topics can include:
- A key unit of analysis is the tacit knowledge embedded within the managers. An investigation of the role of dispositional factors, team processes and social networks in this process would add to our understanding of the creation, valuation and the use of intellectual capital.
- How is design thinking and the internet-of-things changing the way we view intellectual capital?
- What is the role of artificial intelligence in creating a deeper understanding of intellectual capital?
- How can the traditional elements of intellectual capital such as human capital be altered in order to include a technological perspective of human-computer interaction?
- How are intangible assets changing based on cultural factors in developing and emerging markets?
- What trends are there in new patents and trademarks issuance to companies?
- How national, regional or supranational policy enhance intellectual capital around globe?
- Expending various methods and data sources in view of multi-dimensional analysis axes.
Timeframe:
Author submission window opens for submission: June 1st 2020
Author submission deadline: 31st July 2020
Notification to authors of decision: 15th September 2020
Deadline for authors' revisions: 15th November 2020
Notification to authors of decision: 30th December 2020
Deadline for 2nd revisions: 1st March 2021
Final acceptance of papers and wrap up of special issue: 1st May 2021
Submissions should be accompanied by an assurance of originality and exclusivity and should adhere to the ‘Style and Format’ author guidelines that can be found on the journal’s website at: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=jic
All submissions are through the online submission system ScholarOne. Full submission details are in the author guidelines. Please ensure you submit to this special issue using the appropriate dropdown menu on ScholarOne.
All submissions will be subject to a rigorous double-blind peer review process, with one or more of the guest editors acting as action editor.
For further information, please contact any of the guest editors for this special issue.
References
Agostini, L., & Nosella, A. (2017). Enhancing radical innovation performance through intellectual capital components. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(4), 789-806.
Buenechea-Elberdin, M. (2017). Structured literature review about intellectual capital and innovation. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(2), 262-285.
Chesbrough, H., Lettl, C., & Ritter, T. (2018). Value creation and value capture in open innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 35(6), 930-938.
Chou, H. & Zolkiewski, J. (2018) Coopetition and value creation and appropriation: The role of interdependencies, tensions and harmony. Industrial Marketing Management, 70: 25-33.
Cortinovis, N., Xiao, J., Boschma, R., & van Oort, F. G. (2017). Quality of government and social capital as drivers of regional diversification in Europe. Journal of Economic Geography, 17(6), 1179-1208.
Kianto, A., Sáenz, J., & Aramburu, N. (2017). Knowledge-based human resource management practices, intellectual capital and innovation. Journal of Business Research, 81, 11-20.
Lee, I. C., Lin, C. Y., & Lin, T. Y. (2017). The creation of national intellectual capital from the perspective of Hofstede’s national culture. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(4), 807-831.
Obeidat, B. Y., Tarhini, A., Masa'deh, R. E., & Aqqad, N. O. (2017). The impact of intellectual capital on innovation via the mediating role of knowledge management: a structural equation modelling approach. International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 8(3-4), 273-298.
Pedro, E., Leitão, J., & Alves, H. (2018). Back to the future of intellectual capital research: a systematic literature review. Management Decision, 56(11), 2502-2583.
Roos, G. and Roos, J. (1997) ‘Measuring your company’s intellectual performance’, Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp.413–426.
Roos, G. (2017). Knowledge management, intellectual capital, structural holes, economic complexity and national prosperity. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(4), 745-770.
Rossi, M. V., & Magni, D. (2017). Intellectual Capital and Value Co-Creation: an Empirical Analysis from a Marketing Perspective. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 15(3):147-158.
Secundo, G., Del Vecchio, P., Dumay, J., & Passiante, G. (2017). Intellectual capital in the age of Big Data: establishing a research agenda. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 18(2), 242-261.
Teece, D. J. (2000). Managing intellectual capital: Organizational, strategic, and policy dimensions. OUP Oxford.
Xie, X., Fang, L., Zeng, S., & Huo, J. (2016). How does knowledge inertia affect firms product innovation?. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), 1615-1620.