The Contingent Value of Social Capital and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

That intellectual capital has a significant positive impact on firm performance has been widely accepted and confirmed by many past studies. This study showed that the significant impact was obtained from the interactions provided by the components of intellectual capital, namely human capital, structural capital and social capital. Results provided by a sample collected from 298 business units of firms in the Malaysian financial services industry is consistent with the suggestion that the key driving forces in the contemporary business environment has moved from the management of tangible resources to the exploitation of intangible resources and differential outcome can be expected from the interactive nature of the components. However, independent studies conducted on the impact of human capital, structural capital and social capital on firm performance were not able to confirm that a significant positive relationship can be established by each of them on performance. The study highlights the peculiar nature of social capital where, on its own it does not have any significant impact, but was able to show more significant relationships if they were to interact with the other components, whether in a two-way or three-way interactions.