Advancing the Intellectual Capital Theory: Some Ways Forward

The development of intellectual capital theory has been guided by the ideas and thoughts of a handful of influential practitioners, including Sveiby (1997), Kaplan (Kaplan and Norton, 1992), and Edvinsson (Edvinson and Malone, 1997). These pioneers established the basis of the “intellectual capital standard theory”. More recently, other authors have advanced some contributions integrating an ecosystem approach in line with sustainability concerns. The present paper discusses the assumptions and principles that support the standard theory (the prevailing paradigm). The paper then introduces other models and methodologies as alternatives to the standard theory—such as the “Value Explorer” (Andriessen and Tissen, 2000) and the “Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System (ICBS)” (Viedma and Cabrita, 2012)—and examines the foundations and principles on which the alternative new theory (the ‘new paradigm’) is based. Finally, the paper attempts to synthesize both theoretical approaches with other new views and contributions and rises discussion avenues on the topic.