In search of intangible connections: intellectual capital, performance and quality of life in higher education instituti
- PDF / 700,593 Bytes
- 18 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 89 Downloads / 184 Views
In search of intangible connections: intellectual capital, performance and quality of life in higher education institutions Eugénia de Matos Pedro 1
& Helena Alves
1
& João Leitão
1,2
Accepted: 1 November 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
This study explores the contributions of different dimensions of the intellectual capital of higher education institutions (ICHEIs) to their performance, incorporating the previously unexplored dimension of quality of life (QoL) as a performance measure, and correspondingly taking into account the connection between the Theory of Stakeholders and the Theory of Legitimacy. Applying a Structural Equation Model and the Partial Least Squares method, we present new empirical findings from a sample of 738 students and 587 lecturers/researchers from seven Portuguese public HEIs. The ICHEIs positively influence the institution’s performance, through relational capital and structural capital; and QoL emerges as an important dimension of HEIs’ performance standards, especially regarding students’ perception of academic QoL. When HEIs understand and measure their IC, they will gain a better understanding of their core competencies, enabling a better allocation of resources and implementation of more effective strategic and operational actions. Keywords Intangibles . Intellectual capital . Higher education institutions . Performance . Quality of life
Introduction Recent intangible changes in higher education institutions (HEIs) triggered a growing demand for information about how HEIs manage their intellectual capital (IC) (Secundo et al. 2015).
* Eugénia de Matos Pedro [email protected]
1
Department of Management and Economics, NECE - Research Center in Business Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
2
CEG-IST- Centro de Estudos de Gestão do Instituto Superior Técnico, and ICS-Instituto de Ciências Sociais, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Higher Education
Such reports enable the timely provision of information and assist HEI stakeholders’ decisionmaking processes (Abeysekera and Guthrie 2005). HEIs must satisfy different kinds of stakeholders (Alexander and Hjortsø 2019) to gain both resources and legitimacy (Pinheiro, 2015) and advance with the structures and practices perceived as beneficial (Bitektine 2011). Accordingly, Stakeholder Theory proposes that organisations should voluntarily provide information about their intellectual, social and environmental performance (Guthrie et al. 2004). Since the 1980s, professional management has gained relevance in European HEIs (Schimank 2005) and changes have led HEI management to a professional level in keeping with the missions shaped by stakeholders (Torre et al. 2019). For their sustainability, HEIs should set out targets that satisfy their current and potential stakeholders (Jongbloed et al. 2008; Pavičić et al. 2009; Falqueto et al. 2020), and strategic management that incorporates both competitive dynamics and stakeholders’ interests (Soewarno and Tjahjadi 2020). HEIs’ main stakeholders are stu
Data Loading...
