IT as a part of intellectual capital and its impact on the performance of business entities

Abstract

The relevant literature generally views intellectual capital as comprising three components – human, relational and structural capital. These components are identified and classified by their sub–components, meaning that human, relational and structural capital cannot be observed separately. Whereas human capital is most often treated for its frequent identification with intellectual capital and less often with relational capital, this paper we discuss structural capital and, in particular, as one of the sub–components that refers to information technology (IT). The relevant literature views an IT sub– component as an integral part of almost any classification of structural capital. IT items are intertwined with and are complementary to specific human and relational capital items, and it is common to observe them under the same light. However, because of its presumed importance and influence on other forms of intellectual capital and financial performance, this paper will derive IT from structural capital and treat it as a component that supports the other ones. We still assume that intellectual capital is a logical entity consisting of the three mentioned components, but our intention is also to highlight and prove the importance of IT. Our assumptions were tested in a model under several hypotheses, and most of them were supported. The model is derived from a study conducted on a random sample of Croatian businesses, by applying PLS–SEM and importance–performance analysis.