Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore how the effect of intellectual capital (IC) on organizational performance is indirect and mediated through performance measurement (PM) systems. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a survey of 128 chief financial officers of Iranian publicly listed companies. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares regression, a structural modeling technique which is appropriate for highly complex predictive models. Findings Results from the structural model indicate that, in general, companies with a higher level of IC place a premium on the balanced use of PM systems in a diagnostic and interactive style. Furthermore, the results provide some evidence that IC is indirectly associated with organizational performance through the intervening variable of the balanced use of interactive and diagnostic PM systems. Practical implications This study sheds light on the issue of how senior management should use PM systems to take full advantage of intellectual assets which could lead to improved organizational performance. Originality/value This is the first study of its kind to synthesize a model which examines IC, PM systems, and organizational performance. Although the effect of different types of intangible assets on performance has been substantially examined in the literature, less effort has been devoted to understanding the role of PM systems in leveraging an organization’s IC.

Taking inspiration from the natural resource-based view of the firm and resource orchestration theory, we propose a new approach, that is, natural resource orchestration, to investigate how green intellectual capital and environmental management accounting stimulate environmental performance. Using survey data collected from 106 chief financial officers (CFOs) of publicly listed companies in Iran, findings show

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore intellectual capital (IC) from a multidimensional perspective and its relationship with organizational performance (OP) within Iranian public listed companies. Design/methodology/approach-Survey data from Chief Financial Officers in 128 companies within Tehran Stock Exchange were collected and analyzed using partial least squares regressions. Findings-The findings suggest that organizational culture plays a significant role in developing human capital and structural capital while trust is a major determinant of all the IC components, namely human, structural, relational, and social capital. The results also confirm that the investment in human, structural, and relational capital could potentially bring about OP improvement in Iranian public listed companies. Practical implications-A synthesis of various sub-elements of IC supports executives in detecting, capturing, and assessing the different kinds of knowledge resources which must be taken into consideration individually for maximizing OP. Such multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualization of IC would assist organizations to remedy the inefficiency in the exploitation of IC and thereby providing a robust system in order to capture and measure IC more effectively. Originality/value-This study combines literature on IC across diverse academic fields. The multidimensional conceptualization of IC with four sub-dimensions (i.e. human, structural, relational, and social capital) as well as supplementing two antecedent constructs (trust and organizational culture) offer a more systematic manner to synthesize several knowledge-based drivers toward performance which have not been addressed simultaneously in a comprehensive framework.

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Research question/issue The existing literature documents that the functional expertise of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in finance reduces poor performance risk, improves financial reporting quality, and mitigates audit risk. In this study, we examine the association between CEOs' financial background and internal control weaknesses (ICWs). Research findings/insights Using a sample of Iranian listed companies for the period 2007–2017, we find a significant negative association between CEOs with financial expertise and ICWs. Furthermore, we show that the negative association between CEO financial expertise and ICWs is stronger if the CEO is recruited from inside the firm. Our main results are robust after controlling for the potential selection issue, random effects at the firm level, and the impact of the new Iranian internal control regulations. Moreover, our results remain unchanged after controlling for other CEO characteristics, audit committee characteristics, audit fees, and using an alternative measure of financial expertise. Theoretical/academic implications Our study contributes to the extant literature by examining the association between CEOs' financial background and ICWs, a theme that remains largely unexplored in previous research. We also extend the literature on CEO succession origin. Practitioner/policy implications This study has important implications for regulators regarding the improvement of financial reporting quality and the effectiveness of internal controls, especially in the emerging markets. Particularly, our findings may be of benefit to auditors when assessing the risks regarding their clients' material weaknesses, as well as to shareholders and boards of directors when hiring a new CEO.