Evaluating Intellectual Capital in the Transportation Sector: A Case Study in Iranian Airlines

Intntellectual capital is of intangible assets that might be considered as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Previous studies demonstrate that intellectual capital is positively and significantly associated with organizational performance. This study investigates the three elements of intellectual capital (i.e. human capital, structural capital and relational capital) and their interrelationships within transportation sector in Iranian airlines for the period of 2008-2009. The study used a psychometrically validated questionnaire which was originally administered in Canada. Model development and hypothesis testing was conducted using partial least squares (PLS) on a sample of 189 respondents from airlines’ middle-level managers. The results of final specified model show that there is a robust explanation of business performance variance in Iranian airlines context which bodes well for future research in alternative contexts.

Keywords:

intellectual capital , human capital , structural capital , relational capital , business performance , partial least squares (PLS)