The impact of intellectual capital and balanced scorecard implementation on firm performance

Abstract

The connotation that intellectual capital (IC) replaces physical assets as the major source of competitive advantage (CA) is now generally accepted in both management and accounting literature. Thus, IC management has become a major concern for management regarding enhancing firm performance (FP). The main objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between IC and FP and whether this relationship is direct or indirect through the firm’s CA, IC management tool use (through balanced scorecard (BSC) implementation) and the success in the use of the IC management tool. To achieve this objective, this thesis is divided into three research frameworks. The first framework examines the mediating effect of CA on the relationship between IC and FP. The second framework focuses on the mediating effect of BSC implementation on the relationship between IC and firms’ CA and performance. The third framework investigates the mediating effect of the success factors and BSC implementation success on the relationship between BSC implementation extent, CA and FP. This study used both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire sent to 192 Omani firms with a response rate of 54%. Depending on the survey participants’ willingness and availability, 32 interviews were also conducted in order to support the results from the survey further. The results suggest that the relationship between IC and FP is indirect through the mediation impact of the extent and success of BSC implementation, the success factors and CA.