Capturing Intellectual Capital 'Flows' Through Content Analysis Procedure: A New Approach in Interpreting Intellectual Capital Voluntary Disclosures
33 Pages Posted: 31 Aug 2013
Date Written: September 26, 2012
Abstract
This paper presents an alternative way for content analysis implementation in order to disentangle and interpret intellectual capital (IC) voluntary disclosures. Content analysis technique has been widely used during the last decade to analyze and systematize intellectual capital reporting. In the recent literature the implementation of this technique usually incorporates frameworks which consider the basic IC categories as separate entities. In the present study an innovative implementation is proposed.
The proposed approach takes into consideration apart from the IC components per se their interactions as well. Relevant literature uses the term “flows” to indicate these interactions which are considered an important and integral part of intellectual capital substance. Therefore, we consider the proposed content analysis methodology to be more compatible with the communicative needs that intellectual capital reporting is expected to serve and, specifically, that of understanding the value creation process within the organization.
A pilot case study using as basis of analysis the annual report of 2009 of the National Bank of Greece, the biggest Greek bank, convincingly demonstrates that this new approach offers a better picture of the values creation paths within an organization compared to the traditional content analysis procedure. Value creation information is expected to be in line with the stakeholders’ information needs and useful to management for decision-making purposes.
Keywords: Intellectual capital reporting, Voluntary Disclosure, Disclosure quality, Content analysis, Banking Sector
JEL Classification: M41, M48, M49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation