177,564 research outputs found
The management of knowledge resources within private organisations
No full textNational economies have rapidly moved from their industrial economic base and shifted towards a knowledge base, in which wealth creation is associated with the ability to develop and manage knowledge resources (KR). Several national and international institutions have produced various Intellectual Capital (IC) frameworks and guidelines to guide in the management, measurement and reporting of IC. However, there appear to be few studies of private company practices (Gutharie & Ricceri, 2009). The above informed the following two research questions of this study: (1) In what ways, did the private companies express their strategy and the role of KR within it? (2) What tools, including 'inscription devices', were used for understanding and managing KR within a specific organisation
Intellectual capital a user's perspective
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an empirical account of how a group of financial
professionals uses intellectual capital (IC) information, and the value that the group imputes to IC
reporting. The paper also aims to understand the group’s ability to privately access information that
might help them determine the value of a company’s IC in support of their decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach – Survey administered to a group of financial professionals in
Hong Kong.
Findings – Respondents would like companies to be more transparent and provide more information
on their IC. Respondents believe that greater IC disclosure would be rewarded with an increase in the
company’s share price – even though few respondents thought that they would pay more themselves
for enhanced disclosure. Further, most respondents seem to be currently addressing their IC
information needs through private information channels, and rate the publicly provided information
as poorly suited to their needs.
Practical implications – Greater regulatory control may be needed to ensure that information
being communicated privately also enters the public domain in a timely fashion. It is also suggested
that making market participants more aware of the positive effects of voluntary disclosure on stock
prices may lead to an increase in voluntary disclosure.
Originality/value – The paper provides empirical evidence on the value relevance of IC information
from a user’s perspective
The voluntary reporting of Intellectual Capital: comparing evidence from Hong Kong and Australia
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the voluntary reporting of intellectual capital
(IC) by listed companies in Australia and Hong Kong and to evaluate size, industry and time effects on
IC disclosure levels.
Design/methodology/approach – The study is an empirical one conducted in two stages. Stage
one is an exploratory study of voluntary IC disclosure for the 20 largest listed Australian companies in
1998. Stage two, using 2002 data, examines voluntary disclosure of IC attributes for 50 listed entities in
Australia and 100 in Hong Kong. Content analysis is used to collect data.
Findings – Levels of voluntary IC disclosure are found to be low and in qualitative rather than
quantitative form in both locations. Disclosure level is positively related to company size, a finding
that is consistent with the previous literature on voluntary reporting.
Research limitations/implications – External validity may be compromised somewhat by the
relatively small sample size. Managers are not observed in the process of making decisions, so
management intent is inferred.
Practical implications – Documenting variations in types of reporting and in reporting frequency
enables a greater understanding of why some companies voluntarily report whilst others do not. Such
an understanding holds the potential to guide policy-makers, creditors and investors in giving
prescriptions to firms over whom they have control or with whom they have dealings.
Originality/value – This study is the first to comparatively examine the voluntary reporting of IC in
a longitudinal setting using Australasian data
Using content analysis as a research method to inquire into Intellectual Capital reporting
No full textIncreasingly, researchers in the field of intellectual capital (IC) need to be able to justify
the specific research methods they use to collect the empirical data that they examine to support and
test opinions regarding the merit of different approaches to managing and reporting IC. Of the
various methods available to researchers seeking to understand intellectual capital reporting (ICR),
content analysis is the most popular. The aim of this paper is to review the use of content analysis
as a research method in understanding ICR and to offer some observations on the practical utility
of the method. Further, the paper examines several research method issues relating to the use of
content analysis that have been discussed in the social environmental accounting literature, but not
as yet in the IC literature, which we believe are relevant to investigations underway in the field of
ICR. This paper reports on several developmental issues we have confronted when using content
analysis to examine the voluntary disclosure of IC in annual reports by various organisations. The
paper also suggests two theoretical foundations for further investigation into the voluntary
disclosure of IC by organisations, and suggests why content analysis is well matched to both these
theories as a means to collect empirical data to test research propositions
Rheological Properties of Very High-Strength Portland Cement Pastes: Influence of Very Effective Superplasticizers
No full textThe influence of the addition of very effective superplasticizers, that are commercially available, employed for maximising the solid loading of very high-strength Portland cement pastes, has been investigated. Cement pastes were prepared from deionized water and a commercially manufactured Portland cement (Ultracem 52.5 R). Cement and water were mixed with a vane stirrer according to ASTM Standard C305. The 0.38 to 0.44 water/cement ratio range was investigated. Three commercial superplasticizing agents produced by Ruredil S.p.a. were used. They are based on a melamine resin (Fluiment 33 M), on a modified lignosulphonate (Concretan 200 L), and on a modified polyacrylate (Ergomix 1000). Rheological tests were performed at 25°C by using the rate controlled coaxial cylinder viscometer Rotovisko-Haake 20, system M5-osc., measuring device MV2P with serrated surfaces. The tests were carried out under continuous flow conditions. The results of this study were compared with those obtained in a previous article for an ordinary Portland cement paste
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