INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN INNOVATIVE FIRM

This research was conducted to investigate the influence of intellectual capital on overall innovation and R&D activities in an innovative firm. The firm is a leader in natural goat’s milk-based cosmetics and health products in Malaysia. Intellectual capital consists of four components, human capital, structural capital, relational capital and spiritual capital. This research was a case study and qualitative approach was applied to gather data. The Marketing Manager, Human Resource Manager, Factory Operation Manager, administrative workers, factory workers, IT personnel and customers of the firm were interviewed. The information from the interviews was analyzed using codes and transcription.  Finding of the study indicates that among the intellectual components, structural capital is the highest contributor to the firm’s innovation. Among the recommendations made to the firm are to increase human capital with high expertise, to have a systematic documentation, to cooperate with organization’s external environment and strengthen spiritual value. Future researches are suggested to use instruments other than interviews and widen the scope to more than one firm or industry.