Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative analysis of the contribution made by intellectual capital (IC) to company performance at company and industry levels in the Russian context. It examines the performance effect of IC using a multilevel approach. Design/methodology/approach The study combines the resource- and industry-based view. It decomposes performance determinants into two levels of analysis in such a way that it is assumed that IC at industry and company levels has a significant simultaneous impact on company performance. The empirical part of the study uses a database of 1,096 Russian public companies, covering the period of 2004–2014 and divided into 19 industries. The econometric methodology uses hierarchical linear models to estimate the effect of IC in the different levels of analysis. Findings The study confirms that the strength of the performance effect of IC is contingent on the industry. Furthermore, the study reveals that industry-level endowment with regard to intangibles contributes more to company performance in comparison with a company-level endowment, in the context of the transitional economy. Originality/value The study proposes a novel methodological approach to the performance effect of IC in the Russian context, studying the differences between industry and company effect. The study provides insights to better understand the importance of the politics of IC at the different levels (industry and company) and presents a new empirical enquiry into strategic behaviour regarding IC in Russia.

Purpose This study aims to explore value creation through intangibles in corporations, taking into consideration the endogenous nature of managerial decisions. It is stated that intangibles bring extra information asymmetry into a company and make managers and investors’ goals less aligned. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model is elaborated and empirically tested on the assumption that managers, while investing in intangibles, simultaneously make a company competitive and attractive to investors. The authors use a conceptual model of endogenous value creation to test how intangibles affect outperforming of a company and provoke the expectations of investors. The research is carried out on a sample of more than 1,650 European companies covering the period from 2004 to 2011. Structural equation modelling is applied for the purposes of empirical analysis. Findings The authors reveal a diverse impact of intangibles on outperforming of a company measured by economic value added and its ability to create market value. The study discovers that managers are prone to indicate positive signals to investors rather than create sustainable competitive advantages. Practical implications This research emphasizes on the particular importance of awareness of policymakers, namely, companies’ top managers, about the outcomes of their decisions. Decision-making in public companies should involve as much deliberation as possible about the potential impact of what is decided. Originality/value This work contributes primarily to the field of corporate finance in companies that use intangibles. The endogenous process of value creation is modelled and tested. As a result, a number of essential problems in agent relationships in intangible-intensive corporations are discovered.

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Purpose – The paper aims to identify particular traits of the Russian context which condition two key enablers of organizational learning: organizational culture and transformational leadership. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a literature review, the study determines management challenges by implementation of organizational learning in the Russian business context. Taking this into account, the authors suggest specific model of organizational learning which contains organizational learning processes, organizational culture oriented towards learning and transformational leadership. Empirical justification of this model is provided using a sample of more than 100 respondents. Partial least squares-analysis is applied to define structural relationships between the elements of proposed model. Findings – The study reveals the positive and significant influence of transformational leadership and an organizational culture on organizational learning processes. Moreover, transformational leadership is shown to have a positive impact on an organizational culture, confirming the hypothesis regarding the pivotal role of leaders in the Russian business context. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study can assist managers doing business in Russia to improve organizational learning processes. The size of the sample appears to be the main limitation of this study. Questions that might also be addressed in additional research concern the influence of organizational learning on the performance of Russian companies. Originality/value – The paper contributes to a better understanding of the barriers and stimuli exacted on organizational learning and provides empirical evidence of organizational learning practices of Russian companies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theoretically justify the link between the endowment of intellectual capital (IC) and product novelty, and to find empirical evidence for such a link for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Russian business environment. Design/methodology/approach The study implements an intellectual capital-based view and the concept of novelty proposed by Schumpeter to highlight the crucial role of knowledge for transition to a higher level of competition. Drawing on a literature review, the authors determine three specific components of IC: foreign human capital, information and communication technology (ICT) capital developed at an international level and cooperation with foreign partners in order to pinpoint a premier position on the next level of the market. For empirical testing of the proposed model, a data set comprising more than 1,400 Russian manufacturing SMEs was used. Estimations were performed with the help of a principal component analysis and ordinal logistic regression. Findings The findings reveal that higher (IC) endowment promotes the level of product novelty. For Russian manufacturing SMEs, the most important is R&D capital. At the same time, ICT capital developed at an international level and cooperation with foreign partners contribute significantly to the probability of transition to a new market level. Research limitations/implications The study employs cross-sectional data that restrict the analysis of innovation dynamics. Practical implications The study appears to have policy implications for the development of governmental programmes for Russian SMEs such as the creation of IC awareness, training for IC management, special programmes for R&D support and ICT capital accumulation. Originality/value This paper proposes a new approach for investigating the “knowledge-innovation” link, shifting the focus from a general analysis of product innovation to a level of novelty for product innovation. This is the first empirical study of the relationship between IC components and the level of product novelty for SMEs in the context of the Russian business environment.