Intangible-intensive profile of a company: the key to outperforming
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal and empirically validate a new typology of company strategic profiles regarding intangible resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is carried out in three steps. The first stage comes to identify the coordinates of intangibles in which strategic profiles are found. The second stage enables a clusterization of more than 1,600 European companies observed during seven years in the coordinates of intangibles. The last step introduces comparative analysis of these clusters in terms of their performance.
Findings
As a result of empirical analysis three strategic profiles regarding intangibles are discovered. Two of these profiles are called intangible-intensive as they demonstrate clear predominance of a particular set of intangibles. The innovative profile is associated with intensive investment in innovation and networking capabilities. The conservative profile puts emphasis on managerial capabilities and development of business process. The non-intangible-intensive profile, that has been called moderate, evenly allocates resources among intangibles keeping them on a low level relative to the intangible-intensive profiles.
Practical implications
This research is useful for practitioners in strategic and knowledge management. It provides insight into common features of company strategies for intangibles as well their impact on short- and long-term performance.
Originality/value
This work contributes to the field of strategic knowledge management by demonstrating a new relevant typology in company behavior regarding intangibles. Moreover, it equips decision makers in companies with a tool to design strategic vision in intangibles.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the researchers of the ID Lab (NRU Higher School of Economics – Perm Campus) for their useful comments and remarks during preparations and discussions of the paper. The authors also thank the assistants of the ID Lab for their work creating the database and their support. This study comprises research findings carried out within the framework of the project (Number 15-18-20039) supported by the Russian Scientific Fund.
Citation
Shakina, E. and Barajas, A. (2015), "Intangible-intensive profile of a company: the key to outperforming", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 721-741. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-03-2015-0025
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited