Title: The issues of corporate governance in knowledge intensive entrepreneurial firms

Authors: Ljiljana Erakovic, Moncherie Tchaka

Addresses: Department of Management and International Business, The University of Auckland Business School, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. ' Sussens Group, 107 Main Road, Greenpoint, Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract: This paper looks at the issues of corporate governance in knowledge-intensive firms. It provides a conceptual understanding of major challenges faced by governance bodies of such firms in early stages of their development. The major question it asks is about a sustainable model of governance in knowledge-intensive firms. Traditional governance mechanisms of corporate control are neither appropriate nor effective means of protecting the company|s interest. They can hardly enable the transition of individuals| intellectual capacity into organisational learning capacity. In firms where human capital plays a major role in gaining the company|s competitive advantage, the board of directors has a difficult task in finding sustainable ways of controlling and retaining the sources of knowledge generation.

Keywords: corporate governance; knowledge intensive companies; entrepreneurial firms; sustainable governance; evolutionary perspectives; intellectual capacity; organisational learning; company interests; control; competitive advantage; directors; knowledge generation; knowledge management; KM; entrepreneurship; innovation management; business models; human capital.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2010.034419

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2010 Vol.12 No.2, pp.156 - 169

Published online: 03 Aug 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article