Ricerc@Sapienza

The research project is based on the study of the forthcoming fifth stage Intellectual Capital Research (ICR) and its boundaries. Particularly, Intellectual Capital (IC) research is now almost 30 years old. However, it needs constant recharging if it is to remain relevant. In particular, by sticking to the narrow term intellectual capital based on a European conceptualization of IC, it will no doubt produce narrow research constrained to a narrow audience. The research most people will be familiar with refers to IC as human, structural, and relational capital. While the definition helps to categorize IC and help people understand what IC is, it also constrains our thinking. A good example is the concept of value creation, which traditionally is based on a shareholder or customer (utility) perspective. As exemplified in fourth stage ICR, the value concept is extended to include social and environmental value. However, extending IC to include two additional values also constrains thinking. In the fifth stage of ICR, IC researchers need to remove these boundaries, and the question they ask needs changing from "what is IC worth to investors, customers, society and the environment?" to "is managing IC a worthwhile endeavour?". Asking the latter question removes the boundaries from IC research to include all manners of worth and recognizes that IC is a substantial part of what impacts everyone on a day-to-day basis. The main objective of the research project is to investigate the fifth stage ICR without boundaries in the international context, by proposing relevant advances in the study of IC identification and financial and non-financial assessment. The research project will be directed to introduce and develop a strong discourse and evidence of how the fifth stage of IC is able to change the landscape of research and practice on intangibles, intellectual capital and its evaluation and non-financial reporting for contemporary companies, communities and stakeholders.