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The Domains of Intellectual Capital: An Integrative Discourse Across Perspectives

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The Palgrave Handbook of Knowledge Management

Abstract

This chapter explores the domains of intellectual capital (IC) more commonly known as human, organisation and social capital. This theoretical analysis draws together these three disciplinary domains through an integrative discourse in terms of leveraging accumulative resources, connecting complementary themes and distinguishing between interdependent cognitions and behaviours. It seeks to answer scholarly concerns that the IC construct is vague and misleading, resulting in erroneous and generalised relationships. The chapter adopts a theoretical lens and explores complementary discourses of the relationships between human capital (HC), human capital resources (HCR), organisational capital and social capital (SC). For HC and HCR, the discussions build on the resource-based view and the micro-foundations approaches in the strategy literature, where recent research has explored linkages between HCR and competitive advantage. The SC literature is outlined and the discourse between internal SC and external SC is spelled out. The discourses between the domains suggest that through a process of emergence, firms can develop dynamic capabilities that enable them to achieve competitive advantage in factor markets. In light of this, the chapter builds on and complements other recent research that has extended scholarly concerns about the lack of an integrative framework by which the IC linkages and variables can be developed and tested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management and Enterprise, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and the Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Peter A. Murray

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  1. Peter A. Murray
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Jawad Syed

  2. School of Management and Enterprise, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and the Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

    Peter A. Murray

  3. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

    Donald Hislop

  4. Muscat University, St Helens, Merseyside, United Kingdom

    Yusra Mouzughi

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Murray, P.A. (2018). The Domains of Intellectual Capital: An Integrative Discourse Across Perspectives. In: Syed, J., Murray, P., Hislop, D., Mouzughi, Y. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Knowledge Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71434-9_2

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