Title: Intellectual capital and organisational performance in Malaysian knowledge-intensive SMEs

Authors: Muhammad Khalique; Nick Bontis; Jamal Abdul Nassir Bin Shaari; Mohd Rafi Yaacob; Rohana Ngah

Addresses: MUST Business School, Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan ' DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada ' Faculty of Economics and Muamalat, Department of Business Management, Universiti Sains Islam, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia ' Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Kelantan, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: This study was designed to test and validate the integrated intellectual capital model by examining the relationship between intellectual capital and organisational performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the electrical and electronics manufacturing sectors in Malaysia. Data was collected through a validated survey instrument administered on a sample of 237 respondents from targeted SMEs. Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis were used to examine the reliability and validity of the research instrument. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed research hypotheses. The results demonstrate that human capital, customer capital, structural capital, social capital, technological capital and spiritual capital are crucial components of intellectual capital and all link to organisational performance. Although there are limitations to measuring intellectual capital quantitatively, this study provides further insight into the relationship between intellectual capital and organisational performance within a developing nation. The limitations of the study include a limited scope of generalisability.

Keywords: customer capital; human capital; integrated intellectual capital model; Malaysia; organisational performance; SMEs; social capital; spiritual capital; structural capital; technological capital.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLIC.2018.088345

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 2018 Vol.15 No.1, pp.20 - 36

Received: 13 Apr 2016
Accepted: 10 Mar 2017
Published online: 04 Dec 2017 *

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