Intellectual Capital: An Exploratory Study from Lebanon

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.

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