Measuring intellectual capital and its relationship with organizational performance in software companies in Tehran

Dissertation for Master's degree (M.A)

1-1- Introduction

For a long time, the categories called intellectual capital [1] have become very important in the opinion of managers and technology owners. We know that the assets [2] in the organization are divided into two parts, visible and invisible assets, among which visible assets can be known as working capital or the bank account of a person or company, and intangible assets are divided into two categories:

Intangible assets that are protected by law and given the title of intellectual property and include franchises, copyrights, franchises, and trademarks. some of which are reflected in the balance sheet.

Other intangible assets, which include intellectual capitals that operate under the principles of economics, that is, by using them more, their value does not decrease and are usually not reflected in the balance sheet (Tyles et al., 2000). We need to use and take advantage of them, and we also needed systems and programs and research and development units at the organization level, and with the increase of competition between companies, communication with the customer became the top of every company's work, strategic alliances were formed, and close relations between suppliers of raw materials and companies were created. For this reason, we needed to examine it in the form of a concept, and the best word for it is intellectual capital. Currently, there is no universal definition of intellectual capital that all experts agree on, but below we discuss the most important definitions that clarify intellectual capital to an acceptable extent:

It is a volatile thing, but when it is discovered and used, it enables the organization to compete with a new resource in the environment (Bontis[3], 1996).

Intellectual capital includes all processes. and are assets that are not normally and traditionally shown in the balance sheet and also include those intangible assets such as trademarks or brands and royalties that modern accounting methods take into account (Ross et al., 1997).

Intellectual capital includes the sum of the knowledge of the members of an organization and the transformation of the practical application of the knowledge of the organization members (Ross et al. 1997).

Intellectual capital is a unique set of resources. tangible and intangible of the company, and intellectual capital also refers to the changes and transformations of these tangible and intangible resources (Gupta [5] et al., 2001).

Intellectual capital is intellectual materials such as knowledge and information and intellectual property (property) and experience that create wealth and there is still no universal definition for it (Stewart [6], 1997).

Intellectual capital is the search and Pursuing the effective use of knowledge (manufactured goods) compared to information (raw materials) (Bontis, 1998).

Intellectual capital is a broad knowledge that is specific and unique to each company that allows the company to continuously adapt to changing conditions (Moritsen[7], 1995).

Intellectual capital is a flow of knowledge within the company. (Dirks and Cole [8], 1989).

Intellectual capital is defined as a group of knowledge assets that belong to an organization and are considered among the characteristics of an organization, and it leads to the improvement of the competitive situation of the organization by adding value to the organization's key stakeholders (Marr [9], 2004). Frameworks, models, and systems have given us good information, but companies are mostly indifferent to this issue, and a small amount of organizations and companies have extensively evaluated their intellectual capital (Klein [10], 1998). According to Klein (1998), many organizations measure their intellectual capital with variables such as education and experience.

In fact, by paying attention to intellectual capital, we have not paid attention to anything but knowledge [11] in the organization, and knowledge in the organization can be at different levels [12]. From the second half of the 20th century, the concept of knowledge became more important in companies and their organizations to the extent that the European Union considered the use of knowledge to become an industrial hub in the world very important.For many years, the strategic theories of companies emphasized that their organizations included a body of knowledge. With our move from the industrial age to the knowledge-based age, knowledge has become a key element in the competition between organizations and companies and even nations. Knowledge should be managed in a way that leads people and their organizations to produce and maintain more prosperity. According to Zack [13], the ability to create knowledge and continue training is a competitive advantage, because their innovative knowledge that has spread today is the knowledge of the foundations for tomorrow (Martinez Torres [14], 2006).

Knowledge was a competitive advantage that organizations and companies could make a lot of progress in the competitive world by having it, and it should be known that the intellectual assets of the organization are the most important part of organizational knowledge and need to be recognized and measured (Mar and Chioma [15], 2006). Therefore, the definition of intellectual capital can include the knowledge itself (which becomes the intellectual property or intellectual property of a company) and the final result of its transfer process. In a model called the place of value, intellectual capital is divided into 3 main components, which are: human capital [16], structural capital [17] or organizational and customer capital [18] or communication (Edwinson and Malone, 1997). has been considered (Petty and Guthrie [19], 2000), which has made intellectual capital a prominent research in business (Bontis and Cerenko [20], 2004). Another research shows that a complete understanding of the evolution of intellectual capital is based on its historical roots. Finally, the characteristics of intellectual capital are specified below: Intangibility The truth that creates value The growth effect of collective action So finally, a common classification has emerged in which intellectual capital is divided into 3 aspects:

Human capital

Structural capital

Communication capital

Recently, the fourth element has been added to these 3 items. Rotberg and Erickson (2002) introduced competitive capital as an important element in intellectual capital, while Davis and Magowan (2002) choose social capital, arguing that intellectual capital is built on the changes and combinations of knowledge that have emerged from community communication.

There is a consensus in this field that none of the dimensions alone are valuable. Value is built and created among the effective interaction of 3 components of intellectual capital. Intellectual capital has 2 levels and 3 components as follows, which are supported by trust and culture. 1-1- Different components of intellectual capital from Bontis's point of view. Below we will define and examine each of these components: 1-1-2- Human capitals. Human capitals refer to the capabilities, skills and expertise of the human members of an organization (Malcolm [21], 2002). Human capital is considered as an element of intellectual capital and is the most important sustainable source of competitive advantage (Edwinson and Malone, 1997).

The intellectual element is an important element in human capital. The primary purpose of human capital is to innovate in goods and services as well as improve business processes (Manritsen, 2001).

Economists believe that human capital is an important part of a nation's wealth, that human investment significantly improves the quality of work, which is the most important source of economic growth. (Koltz, 1961).

Organizations operate in different contexts. The choice of human capital indicates the most important thing to report (Ordonez de Pablos [22], 2003).

At a certain level, human capital is a combination of 4 elements:

Genetic heritage

Education

Experience

Attitude about life and business (Hudson[23], 1993).

Bontis[24] (1998) explains that the organizational perspective is human capital as a source of innovation and strategy renewal. However, human capital must be combined with communication and structural elements in an organization to create value.