Call for Papers Mini Track on Intellectual Capital and Online Learning
Track Chair: Dr Bob Barrett, American Public University, USA
Intellectual capital is comprised of all resources that help to determine the competitiveness and value of an organization in one’s economy. While many global economies have fluctuated during the past several years, certain companies and industries have learned better ways of managing their resources. As industries have adapted to changes in their economy, some industries have survived, and even flourished during these critical, economic times. The online learning industry has grown significantly over the past decade in many countries, and leading reports forecast even greater gains in this particular business sector. Therefore, this leads one to wonder how important intellectual capital is to the online learning field, and how this particular industry can best utilize its resources to help continue its success.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
Developing intellectual capital to compete in the online learning environment;
Managing intellectual capital and stakeholders in the virtual setting;
Understanding current uses of intellectual capital in online learning and development of best practices;
Determining the role and function of intellectual capital in online learning in the context of a changing economy;
Identifying and examining factors that affect intellectual capital in an organization and determining future plans of action.
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Call for Papers Mini Track on Intellectual Capital Dynamics
Track Chair:Prof. Dr. Constantin Bratianu, Academy of Economics Studies, Bucharest, Romania The static structure of the Intellectual Capital (IC) is already history. More and more researchers are challenging the dynamics of IC which requires a new understanding of its structure and its transformation under the organizational forces. IC is not anymore conceived as a potential but as a dynamic field of forces able to integrate all the knowledge, intelligence, relations and values within the organization into a dynamic structure whose pillars are the human capital, the structural capital and the relational capital. Knowledge flows and knowledge transformations according to different cycles contribute to this IC dynamics. Also, processes like knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge propagation, and knowledge loss contribute to the dynamics of the organizational IC in any of its components. Knowledge fluxes crossing the organization interface from suppliers and stakeholders, or toward consumers and stakeholders make that IC of the organization to vary in space and time, and to increase or decrease its dynamic capabilities for building up the competitive advantage.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Knowledge processes of creation, acquisition, sharing, propagation, storing and retrieving that may contribute to the increase of the organizational IC.
Knowledge flows and knowledge cycles that describe the IC dynamics.
Human capital dynamics as a strategic view of the organization.
Structural capital dynamics as an amplifier of the organizational IC.
Relational capital dynamics and networking in a turbulent business environment.
The role of integrators, like management, leadership and organizational culture in increasing the operational and strategic values of the organizational IC.
New perspectives and paradigms on IC dynamics.
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Track Chair: Dr John Dumay, University of Sydney, Australia
The purpose of the mini-track is to engender further discussion about the relevance of contemporary approaches to research and practice in the field of IC. It is intended to explore how to improve the relevance of IC to academics, practitioners and their organisations. It is not the intention to develop or prescribe additional frameworks or theory for the measurement, management and reporting of IC. Rather the intention is to lay the foundations for further discourse on the thinking behind the utility of contemporary IC theory and practice. Papers for this mini-track are encouraged from both practitioners and academics. Ideally papers should either question contemporary research and practice or offer alternate viewpoints.
Topics include, but are not limited to: IC as a fad?
Evaluating IC theory in practice
Utilising alternate research methods measuring, evaluating and communicating IC
The utilisation of IC narratives vs. numbers
Examining IC from the bottom up vs. top down approaches
The future of IC and the changes needed to progress the IC agenda
Examining IC from various critical perspectives
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Call for Papers Mini Track on Intellectual Capital, Corporate Performance and Shareholder’s Value
Track Chair:Dr. Santanukumar Ghosh, Professor of Commerce, The University of Burdwan, India
Under the knowledge economic environment, corporate financial performance or for that matter, the firm’s ability to achieve a sustained competitive advantage depends largely on how well the strategic knowledge-based resources are managed by it. Thus, efficient management of all components of Intellectual Capital namely Human Capital, Structural Capital and Relational Capital is the prerequisite for the achievement of the corporate objective.
Industry characteristics, however, are expected to contribute significantly to have varying degrees of influence of these components over the corporate performance. Hence, an analysis across industries may bring out the relative importance of these components and accordingly, industries may focus appropriately upon the relevant part of IC. In this context, size of firms also may have considerable bearing upon the IC performance.
In a world of free economic environment, no country specific influence of IC on the corporate performance can be expected. But due to considerable differences in the business environment between the developed and the emerging economies, significant differences in the firm’s performances may be observed.
Keeping in mind these diverse issues relating to impact of IC on corporate performance or for that matter, on the shareholders’ value, original research works are invited from the academicians as well as practitioners across countries. Following are some of the specific topics (but not limited only to these) on which both empirical and theoretical research papers may be submitted:
Topics include, but are not limited to:
Valuation and Measurement of IC and its components including Reporting of IC by the enterprises across countries;
Relationship between IC Performance and Corporate Financial Performance;
IC as the Corporate Value Driver;
Human Capital Management by firms—Industry and Country specific Problems- e.g., Development, Attrition etc.and Remedies;
IC and its Importance in Managing Small Scale Business Enterprises including that of Venture Capital Organizations;
Capital Market Sensitivity to the IC performance of the firms;
Relational Capital and Shareholders’ Value Creation—experiences across Industries and Geographical Boundaries;
Impact of the Compliance of the relevant Principles of Global Compact and the Guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Santanujumar Ghosh
Call for Papers Mini Track on Human Capital Transform and Transfer by Social Media?
Track Chair: Dr Jussi Okkonen, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Human capital is a valuable, yet most complex part of any organization’s intellectual capital. This person-bound intellectual capital residing in the minds of the individuals working in an organization often play a significant role in performing the key tasks of the organization. The individuals and their working habits, their knowledge and know-how needed to perform the business processes efficiently and successfully sets the basis for making profitable business. Simultaneously this causes a well known risk: what happens to the organization’s success if the individual leaves the organization taking their human capital with them? The research has offered several methods for getting the person-bound human capital shared and transformed into organization’s structural capital in order to get it in to wider use in the organization. Technology may play significant role in process of transforming personal knowledge to organizational knowledge. Web 2.0 technologies and social media would seem to be beneficial in this context, since they empower individuals to author, publish, share, use, discuss and comment issues. Produsage as organizational action helps along the intractable path to organizational knowledge. Social media applications are widely used in leisure setting, yet the benefits of using them in work setting are implicit. The mini-track calls for conceptual as well as practical papers aiming to describe how can the human capital of an individual in an organization be transformed and transferred into organization’s structural capital by using social media.
Social media or WEB 2.0
Intellectual capital transform tools
Intellectual capital transfer tools
Produsage
Social media in work context
Social knowledge/intelligence
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Jussi Okkonen
Call for Papers Mini Track on Can Intellectual Capital (IC) help fix Europe?
As a result of a number of qualitative and quantitative factors, the role of Europe in the creation and diffusion of world-wide Intellectual Capital is diminishing. The process is being accompanied by a general shift of socioeconomic and political gravity to emerging markets – chiefly concentrated in the Far East and South America. The reasons for this strategic evolution have as much to do with rising levels of innovation and competitiveness among emerging economies, as with relative rigidness and conservatism of certain European socioeconomic, political and innovation models.
Historically, Europe – the cradle of modern research and development – used to account for the bulk of global innovation. Is the trend towards the Old Continent’s subordinate role in world-wide intellectual output all but inevitable? The following questions appear relevant in this context and should be addressed:
Is the European system of schooling, academic education and professional training sustainable? What can be done to ensure its international competitiveness and commercial viability?
What should Europe do to retain its talent and be able to attract foreign researchers and innovators? How can Europe’s brain drain be transformed into a brain gain? Is Europe a functional place to conduct internationally competitive research and development?
Is Europe capable of protecting its intellectual property effectively? Do European patents, trademarks and designs help extract value from IC? What is the global position of the European Patent Office?
What is the level of innovation among European companies? Is it on a par with their American and Far Eastern peers? Where does most of European innovation take place and why? Does Europe have an IC development strategy?
What demographic, social and organisational changes affect European competitiveness in promoting IC? Will Europe be able to reform its social security systems to combine social welfare with economic liberalism and commitments to IC?
Does Europe offer adequate freedom to do business and is there a good enough infrastructure? Where does Europe rank in world-wide comparisons of doing business, especially in IC intensive areas? What can be done to improve the ranking?
In the light of numerous hands-on implications of the mini track, IC practitioners are particularly encouraged to join and share their views.The ambition of the mini track’s creator is thus blending IC long-term strategy with everyday practise.
For mini track submission details, see the call for papers page
Piotr Wisniewski
Publication opportunity
Papers presented at the conference will be published in the conference proceedings subject to author registration. Selected papers presented at the conference will also be considered for publication in a special issue of the Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management. The latest issue is now available on the journal website. For full details of the proceedings and journal accreditations, please click the star on the right.
