Intellectual capital and firm performance: the mediating role of innovation speed and quality

Impact of local government environmental attention on corporate total factor productivity: Evidence from 288 Chinese cities

To improve the effectiveness of government environmental attention on resource allocation, this study proposes a measurement framework using text analysis and an unsupervised Word2vec model to quantify local government environmental attention of 288 Chinese cities. We further examine its impact on total factor productivity (TFP) of China's listed firms from 2010 to 2021 using the high-dimensional fixed-effects and panel quantile regression models. The findings show that: (1) Local government environmental attention contributes positively to TFP, with each unit increase raising TFP by approximately 1.4% from its mean. The results remain robust across various endogeneity and robustness tests. (2) As corporate TFP improves, the marginal positive impact of local government environmental attention gradually strengthens, with command-and-control-oriented and guidance-oriented attention generating greater positive impact than target-oriented attention. (3) Regarding influence mechanisms, local government environmental attention improves corporate TFP by enhancing green governance and innovation quality rather than increasing innovation quantity. Media monitoring enhances its positive impact on corporate TFP, particularly in firms with predominantly positive media coverage. These findings offer insights into facilitating corporate high-quality development.

The moderating effect of managerial discretion on cross-border knowledge search and the innovation quality of high-tech firms in a global health emergency: evidence from China

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the moderating effect of managerial discretion on the relationship between cross-border knowledge search and the high-tech firms’ innovation quality in a global health emergency and addresses the following issues: the influence mechanism of different types of cross-border knowledge search on the high-tech firms’ innovation quality in a global health emergency; and the moderating role of different dimensions of manager discretion on the above relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the firms’ strategy selection methods, the authors divided cross-border knowledge search into three aspects, namely, breadth, depth and balance, and analyzed the impact of cross-border knowledge search on the innovation quality of high-tech firms in a global health emergency, taking managerial discretion as the moderating variable, and divided it into position rights, pay rights and operation rights according to the key rights of firms’ strategic management. Furthermore, the authors constructed a theoretical model, and for an analysis sample, the authors collected data from Chinese high-tech firms from 2013 to 2021.

Findings

The empirical results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between cross-border knowledge search breadth, depth and balance and the innovation quality of high-tech firms. The position rights, pay rights and operation rights of managerial discretion have partially significant moderating effects on the relationship between cross-border knowledge search breadth, depth and balance and the high-tech firms’ innovation quality.

Originality/value

Considerable literature has grown around the theme of the impact of knowledge search on the firms’ innovation quality. Nevertheless, only a few studies draw on the combination of global health emergency, cross-border knowledge search and the innovation quality; in particular, no literature has analyzed the relationship between the three from the managerial discretion perspective. Exploring the above relationships has great theoretical value for enriching and improving knowledge management and innovation management theories and provides a theoretical basis and practical support for high-tech firms to face challenges of a global health emergency and to break through the innovation dilemma.

Study on the spatial spillover effects of capital enrichment on industrial green technology innovation in China

In the context of the strategic target of carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality, industrial green technology innovation (GTI) has become the focus of discussion in academia these days. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019, we construct Spatial Durbin Models to explore the spatial effects of capital enrichment (CE) on GTI by using the geographical distance matrix, the economic distance matrix and the adjacency matrix. The results reveal that: (1) The regional differences in the development of GTI are prominent, showing a higher level in the east and lower in the west. (2) GTI exhibits the spatial characteristic of polarization. Its spatiotemporal evolutionary pattern reveals a phased feature of first strengthened and then weakened. (3) The CE has a significant inhibitory effect on GTI, which may be caused by the “rebound effect”, dominated by short-term economic interests and the ineffective capital allocation. This effect is more prominent in regions with unbalanced economies. (4) The spatial spillover effect of CE is significantly negative, indicating a “siphon effect”. Based on these findings, the suggestions for promoting GTI are put forward.

Analysis of Maximization Strategy Intangible Assets through the Speed of Innovation on Knowledge-Driven Business Performance Improvement

This study aims to determine the effect of human capital, structural capital, and consumer capital on financial performance and moderate the speed of innovation. The type of research used in the study is quantitative—data collection techniques in distributing questionnaires measured using a Likert scale. The sampling technique used was random sampling and was determined by the slovin formula. The population in this study was MSMEs in Buleleng Regency, and the samples used in this study amounted to 392 MSMEs. Data or statistical analysis techniques in the study were considered using the Structural Equation Model with WarpPLS 5.0 software modelling. The results show that the technology and commitment variables have no significant effect on the development of religious ecotourism villages. In contrast, cultural changes significantly impact the development of religious ecotourism villages. This study uses the speed of innovation as a moderating variable, the speed of innovation is one of the essential things for MSMEs to improve financial performance. The speed of innovation supports intellectual capital, which is currently focused on knowledge-driven business to create a competitive advantage.

A look at the focus shift in innovation literature due to Covid-19 pandemic

This study explores the problems related to the development of innovation research in the field of business and economics and the change in their characteristics following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We compile a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 17,277 pre-epidemic publications and 4,240 post-epidemic publications from the Web of Science. Using bibliometric methods and visualization tools, we present the changes in these publications following the COVID-19 pandemic, and identify the influential countries and regions, sources, and references, and obtain features of keywords over time. The results show that innovation research is rich in content, and involves a wide range; it has been focusing on emerging topics, such as those concerning low-carbon, innovation forms, and epidemic environments, following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on innovation, and helps to understand the features and structures of innovation research in business and economics.

Intellectual Capital and Competitive Advantage and the Mediation Effect of Innovation Quality and Speed, and Business Intelligence

This study aims at investigating the mediating impact of business intelligence, innovation speed and innovation quality on the relationship between the different components of intellectual capital and competitive advantage in the context of Jordanian companies. To achieve this, the study developed a theoretical framework that depicts the mediation through data that were collected randomly, from the pharmaceutical and medical supplies companies, with a total sample of 569 participants. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, SEM (CB-SEM), for model fit and Process software for path analysis to estimate the different indirect effects. The findings provide evidence that all mediators serve differently as important mediating mechanisms between the different components of intellectual capital and competitive advantage. Overall, the results of this study show and clarify the mediating mechanism of business intelligence, innovation speed and innovation quality, as mediators through which human capital, structural capital and relational capital improve competitive advantage in the context of Jordanian companies.

The impact of intellectual capital and related party transactions on contractual costs

Purpose

The present study aims to assess the potential effects of intellectual capital (IC) and disclosure of firms' affiliate transactions on contractual costs (CC).

Design/methodology/approach

The statistical population of the study includes 768 firm-year observations listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012–2017. According to Pulic's model, the authors divide IC into three components, such as human capital (HC), relational capital and structural capital (SC). CC is also measured by utilising two variables of board cash compensation and unexpected reward of managers.

Findings

The results show that there is a negative and significant relationship between HC and CC. In contrast, the authors find that relational capital and SC have a positive impact on CC. The authors’ further analyses also demonstrate that disclosure of transactions with affiliates has a negative effect on unexpected rewards of managers.

Originality/value

Since there is no conducted study, which discusses the relationship between IC and contractual cost, this paper might be considered the primary studies conducted in this line of literature, specifically in emerging markets. Moreover, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study investigating the potential impact of disclosure of selling and purchasing transactions, separately, on the director's unexpected reward.

Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance Correlation: The Mediation Role of Innovation Capability in Malaysian Manufacturing SMEs Perspective

Understanding of intellectual capital’s influence on the firm performance has received immense interest in recent years. In this view, the impact of various intellectual capital components, including human, structural, and relational capital, on the performance of small- and medium-sized Malaysian manufacturing enterprises were examined. A correlation between intellectual capital and firm performance were established based on the mediating role of innovation capability. To achieve this goal, a stratified sampling method was used wherein 262 participants’ responses from the focused manufacturing firms were obtained and analyzed via the structural equation model (SEM) and resource-based view (RBV). Statistical tools like SPSS.v25 and SmartPLS.v3 were used. The results showed that the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance was strengthened due to the mediation of innovation capability, thereby gaining higher competitive advantages. It was asserted that the present comprehensive analyses may offer a useful information and guidance to the academics, owners/managers, and policymakers involving the impact of intellectual capital development towards improving the Malaysian SMEs performance.

Innovation speed and quality in higher education institutions: the role of knowledge management enablers and knowledge sharing process

Purpose

Higher education institutions, particularly in developing countries, are striving for superior innovation performance to cope with the challenges of contemporary educational environment. Drawing on the knowledge management capability model and knowledge-based view of firms, this study aims to determine the impact of knowledge management enablers, namely, top management knowledge value, knowledge-oriented culture and knowledge-based rewards, on innovation speed and quality and assessing the mediating role of knowledge sharing process.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from 234 academics of higher education institutions in Pakistan and analyzed through the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique.

Findings

The results indicate that top management knowledge value and knowledge-based rewards have a positive effect on innovation speed and quality. Although knowledge-oriented culture also contributes to innovation quality, it does not influence the innovation speed. Moreover, the knowledge sharing process mediates the effect of all these knowledge management enablers on innovation speed and quality.

Practical implications

This study underscores the importance of three key knowledge management enablers in higher education institutions. The findings of this study suggest that signaling knowledge value from the top management, fostering knowledge-oriented culture and enacting a knowledge-based reward system are critical in facilitating knowledge sharing process and enhancing innovation speed and quality in higher education institutions.

Originality/value

This is among one of the earlier studies that investigates the influence of top management knowledge value, knowledge-oriented culture and knowledge-based rewards on innovation speed and quality, particularly in higher education institutions, and determines the mediating role of the knowledge sharing process.