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An attempt is made to discuss the adhesion of thick film conductors on ceramic substrates in connection with thermally induced internal stresses caused by mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficient of the various layers and the substrate. The curvature of the bent substrates was taken as a measure of the internal stresses. A theoretical multilayer model is proposed for description of the composite — substrate/conductor/solder/intermetallic phases. This permits estimation of the stresses and the Young's modulus within the layers and explains the decrease of adhesion of the soldered copper layer after ageing.

The bowing of thick film substrates, wholly covered with copper pastes of the Du Pont base metal system DP 9922 and 9924, with one, four and ten layers has been measured from room temperature up to 700°C. It could be shown that the bowing does not, as expected, decrease uniformly with increasing temperature up to the softening point of the glass, but a change occurs in the curvature of bowing between about 80° and 100°C. By removing the copper layers the glassy interlayer could be investigated on the substrate. Its temperature behaviour is quite linear up to the softening point and the curvature is in contrast to that of the complete copper layer on the substrate. The superposition of the curvature of the metal and the glassy interlayer leads to the above‐mentioned change in the curvature of the complete copper layer. The deviation of the bowing that was found experimentally and that calculated by means of the plates theory, discussed in a previous paper, can therefore be explained by that change in the curvature and by a plastic deformation process in the copper. The values are caused by a reduction of stresses by plastic deformation in the metal during the cooling process. These results offer some possibilities for a reduction of the bowing of multilayer interconnection modules for use in hybrid microelectronics.

The purpose of this paper is to fill in a gap in the research literature on the subject of evaluation of coexistence programs.

Three separate research studies on the effects of joint sports programs on attitudes of Arabs and Jews toward each other were conducted from September 2011 to June 2012. Pretests and posttests were administered to participants in three sports programs involving Arabs and Jews: The Friendship Games, Mifalot's.

While pretests suggest that a great deal of hatred and lack of trust exists among Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis, according to the posttest results, by simply playing sports together, feelings of hatred can be greatly reduced and feelings of trust can be enhanced.

The research limitations included the need to shorten the questionnaire in order to encourage the youth to complete it, and the lack of control groups for the Friendship Games and Peres Center studies. More research is needed on this topic, as well as qualitative research to gain more insight into attitude changes.

The most important practical implication of the research is that conflict mitigation through sports programs and activities should be expanded in order to reach more people. The positive attitude changes found as a result of participation in the programs indicates that these joint sports programs really can promote better relations and if they are expanded to reach more people, the effects will be greater.

The originality/value of this study is great, as there has been almost no prior research which actually measured the effects on attitudes of youth of participation in integrated sports programs with Arabs and Jews.

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative operational proposal for measuring the intellectual capital (IC) of higher education institutions (HEIs) through a strategic prospective lens of analysis.

After providing a literature review on the methods for measuring IC that focuses on the organisational IC of HEIs, four case studies applied to Portuguese HEIs are presented, using a matrix of cross-referenced impacts – multiplications applied to a classification (MICMAC) approach.

The empirical findings reveal how human capital, structural capital and relational capital make up the core components and provide a fairly diversified list of the measurement indicators for the operational evaluation of the IC of HEIs.

It contributes into the literature of strategic prospective analysis of HEIs by: analysing the measurement systems for the organisational IC interrelated with HEIs; identifying the key components to the organisational IC of HEIs and their respective measurement indicators; and draufting a new method for operationally implementing organisational IC through the systematic application of the components and indicators identified.

Through an innovative vision, the present study reconciles and systematically structures the methods already proposed by other authors before presenting an innovative operational approach and an alternative to the already existing methods. In addition, the structure of this proposal itself enables HEIs to choose from among the various indicators proposed for IC, correspondingly those that best align with the type of institution under evaluation.

It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing the state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in this special issue on IC in education. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This research uses the structured literature to investigate the state-of-the-art and future directions of IC literature in education. In total, 47 articles are explored including nine from this special issue.

IC in education research is concentrated in Europe and mainly addresses IC in universities. Additionally, current IC research is progressing by examining IC practices inside universities using a third-stage IC approach, with new research also concentrating on third-mission outcomes, thus there is scope to continue IC and education research beyond universities. IC in education can also expand into fifth stage IC research, which abandons the boundaries of the educational institution and concentrate on the impact of IC and education on multiple stakeholders.

Current IC in education research is too narrow and mainly investigates IC in European contexts using case study methodology. However, there is ample scope to widen research that develops new frameworks in different educational and country contexts using a wider range of research methodologies. IC in education needs to expand its boundaries so it does not lose its relevance, and thus be able to contribute to wider policy debates.

This paper presents the current state-of-the-art structured literature review of the articles investigating IC in education.

With a view to enabling organisations provide a clear understanding of firm value creation, several national and supranational institutions have produced guidelines and frameworks for externally reporting intellectual capital (IC). In many cases regulators, the accounting profession and accounting scholars have driven these initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to summarise, analyse and compare the guidelines and frameworks that have been developed with a focus on externally reporting IC.

The paper analyses the assumptions underpinning 20 guidelines and frameworks that have been developed with a focus on reporting IC using a self-constructed framework.

The review resulted in a comparison of IC reporting guidelines and framework based on target audience, role of IC within the organisational strategic management process and reporting IC indicator. It provides an understanding of the state of the art in relation to external reporting of IC.

The insights provided by the comparison of the guidelines and frameworks are likely to be helpful for practitioners wanting to adopt or develop an IC reporting model for their organisation. Policy-makers will find these insights beneficial when attempting to refine existing frameworks and guidelines for reporting IC and in developing new ones to suit various circumstances. Also, this paper provides a useful review for academics.

This is the first paper to provide a review of a large number of business reporting guidelines and frameworks with a focus on IC. It is a valuable reference for practitioners, policy-makers and academics on IC reporting models.

The basis of value creation has shifted from tangible factors of production towards intangible resources such as intellectual capital (IC) (e.g. Grant, 1996). The average organisation’s IC has been estimated to be three to four times over its book value (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997); thus, it is vital for companies to understand how it is created, managed, measured and evaluated. However, there are still many debated and complex issues, and the empirical measurement of IC is one of those. The purpose of this paper is to determine if IC systematically influences firm performance.

A systematic review procedure was utilised as this study’s research design.

The findings demonstrate that IC influences firm performance mainly through interactions, combinations and mediations. Also, there is a great deal of evidence on the significant relationship between IC and firm’s innovation performance.

This paper reviews only empirical studies based on survey data and statistical methods of analysis.

The research points to some focal aspects of IC that are associated with firm performance.

This is the first study to review empirical literature on IC and firm performance. It increases the current understanding by bringing together the research related to the issue and drawing meta-level analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and performance of public universities in emerging countries in order to identify patterns and provide recommendations that may turn the universities’ IC into development opportunities, in terms of research, innovation, and education.

The analysis targeted the whole population of the public universities in the Republic of Colombia. A cluster analysis, based on five performance variables, has been conducted. Then, the IC of the universities pertaining to the three resulting clusters has been compared. Subsequently, for each performance variable, the IC of above-average and below-average universities has been benchmarked.

The results of this study show how different aspects of IC are associated with University performance. Among the many, the authors found that universities should achieve a critical mass to obtain outstanding research and innovation results. The findings also identify the particular importance of both students and scholars’ international mobility programs for most of the performance variables.

This study provides a baseline for the assessment of the impact on society of the IC available in the universities of emerging countries. The application may serve as a guide in the choice of public policies, dedicated to the strengthening of the universities’ IC in order to improve their performance.

This paper proposes an innovative model to analyze the relationship between IC and university performance in emerging countries. The model identifies the association between the IC accrued in the universities and their capability of transferring it to the society under the form of science, innovation, and education.

One of the main contemporary challenges in organisations is finding ways of measuring their intellectual capital (IC), and its effects on competitiveness and financial sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of IC on the long-term financial performance of Brazilian companies.

Considering that previous studies have not been able to explain the role of IC in financial sustainability (measured by long-term corporate performance), this paper attempts to fill this gap by means of a quantitative, descriptive and applied study. Based on the theories of knowledge management, accounting and finance, the authors have undertaken a study of the companies listed on the BM&FBovespa, based on secondary data, using a multi-industrial cut, over the period 2005 to 2014, using descriptive and multivariate statistics.

The analysis supports three major conclusions: IC influences positively the profitability and corporate return of these companies; the more intangible-intensive public companies listed on the BM&FBovespa demonstrate higher financial sustainability than the others, in terms of profitability and corporate return, either individually, globally or by industry; and that IC helps increase financial performance, systematically, over time.

Contributions of the following types were sought: theoretical (increasing an understanding of the effects of IC on business performance from a long-term perspective – an understanding that is still only incipient in the management literature); and empirical (increasing an understanding of the role of IC in the differentiation of companies, in organisational profitability and on the return on applications of resources).

The original proposal for the measurement of financial performance presented in this paper proved to be valid and consistent, complementing what is known about the subject under examination, contributing to the improvement of management theory and practice and providing a competitive benchmarking process. This can make it possible for company analysts or managers to evaluate their company in relation to its industry or its market as a whole by means of such indicators, individually or combined with other quantitative or qualitative metrics.

The results of this research reduce a gap in the management and accounting literature, as they shed light on the performance measurement process. In addition to the range and depth of the statistical tests carried out, attention should be drawn to the originality of the proposal presented in this paper. This facilitates the measurement of the effects of IC on financial performance through the selection and application of specific indicators for the assessment of the contribution of IC to organisational results.

Due to globalization and digitalization, the world of work is undergoing comprehensive change. These trends are challenging management accounting (MA) and pressuring individuals and organizations to change. The literature postulates a replacement of traditional organizational careers by “new” career models characterized by dynamism and flexibility. However, the state of the art on careers in MA lacks empirical evidence and has disparate research interests.

In this study, the authors investigate the status quo of careers in MA, key influencing factors and assumed change in such careers. To do so, the authors conducted a quantitative empirical study, based primarily on the careers of 83 graduates of a department offering a MA major at a German-speaking university. Nine qualitative empirical interviews supplement the quantitative findings.

The authors’ findings indicate that while MA careers are changing, the characteristics of the profession are continuing to concur with the traditional organizational understanding of careers. Accumulated professional experience is the key factor to achieving a management position although management accountants tend to become more dynamic in terms of career paths and career understanding. Thus, employment in various functional areas opens new career paths in MA.

The methodology of analysing quantitative and empirical cross-sectional data and the resulting final sample size is too small to guarantee robust statistical inference. Moreover, further interviews would lead to greater data saturation.

The study sheds light on the under-researched question of how careers in MA proceed and develop. This could be of interest for practitioners working with management accountants such as personnel consultants.

This study contributes to the field through its comprehensive consideration of careers in MA in this changed context, thus providing new insights for academia and business practice.