TITLE:
Intellectual Capital: An Exploratory Study from Lebanon
AUTHORS:
Hussin J. Hejase, Ale J. Hejase, Hassana Tabsh, Hassan C. Chalak
KEYWORDS:
Human Capital, HR, Intellectual Capital, Lebanon, Retention, Talent
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.4 No.4,
August
19,
2016
ABSTRACT: Organizations are spending quality time to build their Intellectual Capital by attracting
people with talent; a caliber that has become a valuable asset in the business world, especially
since talented people are difficult to find. Intellectual Capital is the knowledge
that individuals put into advantage in their respective companies; as such, it is an organizational
competitive advantage and helps in value creation. The Human Resources
Department creates value for these organizations by coming up with effective humanresource
related solutions and creative ideas for dealing with and retaining people who
have the right talent. To achieve the aforementioned, employees’ qualifications have to
be evaluated in terms of knowledge, skills, education, in addition to future potentials
and ability to cope with change. Consequently, organizations have become interested in
developing their human capital by developing their employees’ knowledge, applied
experience, enterprise process, customer relationships, and professional skills. This
paper discusses “Intellectual Capital” as a modern HR concept that has influenced
business processes and plans. It aims at exploring and assessing the extent of awareness
of such concept, current challenges it faces, its future, and also the different views and
thoughts regarding it. In addition, the research focuses on how to exploit and retain
Intellectual Capital and identifies the financial and non-financial organizational benefits
gained by employees. The research is exploratory and explanatory, quantitative in
nature using a survey questionnaire responded by 258 Lebanese employees and managers
working in different business sectors. Collected data are evaluated statistically
through computer software SPSS-22. Findings are used to support existing managerial
practices and policies for better retention practices and management of Lebanese human
resources.