Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Fattah Nazem
Ackerley (2006) revealed that <strong>the</strong>re is a relationship between creativity and leadership among
university students in Business. DiLiello (2006) also found out that individuals who have high
innovation and creativity potential are more likely to perceive opportunities to practice innovation and
creativity when <strong>the</strong>y perceive strong support from <strong>the</strong> workplace. The workplace was measured at <strong>the</strong>
Work Group level, <strong>the</strong> supervisor level, and <strong>the</strong> organizational level. These findings support <strong>the</strong>
<strong>the</strong>oretical propositions that self-leadership and innovation/creativity are related. Baghdarnia (2006)
revealed that <strong>the</strong>re is a significant relationship between managers’ problem-solving skill and
organizational climate with <strong>the</strong> staff’s performance. The managers with problem-solving skill are more
successful. He found that a decent organizational climate and managers with high problem-solving
skill could lead to quality management and high performance among <strong>the</strong> staff in ministry <strong>of</strong> education.
The result <strong>of</strong> a study by Hasanvandi (2009) indicated that <strong>the</strong>re is a relationship between managers’
creative problem-solving skill and organizational climate with <strong>the</strong>ir productivity. This is to say that <strong>the</strong>
productivity can be improved among staff in <strong>the</strong> ministry <strong>of</strong> education provided that <strong>the</strong> two factors <strong>of</strong>
managers’ creative problem-solving skill and organizational climate are present.
In <strong>the</strong> intellectual capital model proposed by Ross and Ross (1997), human capital is considered as
one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> components <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital which includes such features as senior managers’
leadership and innovation. In Brooking’s (1997) model, human capital encompasses staff’s knowledge
in an organization, problem-solving capabilities, leadership and management skills, and innovation.
Sveiby (1997) also underlines <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> management skills in human capital. Lim and Dallimore
(2004) delineated that <strong>the</strong> efficiency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization is strategic in management approach one
adopts. Management methods are also considered as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> components <strong>of</strong> structural capital by
Sullivan and Sullivan (2006). In his Model, Standfield (1990) pinpointed that efficient and pr<strong>of</strong>itable
operationalizing <strong>of</strong> business. It refers to <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> managers’ decision-making skill. If <strong>the</strong> organization
is passive, it will lose its competitive nature in <strong>the</strong> international scene. Several intellectual capital
models considered different distinctive features in <strong>the</strong>ir models: in Ramboll Group’s Model (2007)
values and management are among <strong>the</strong> distinctive features <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital, in Edvinsson and
Malone (1997) <strong>the</strong> human capital including leadership and conceptual problem-solving, in Edvinsson
(2002) management skill, in Marr and Giovanni (2001) human capital which includes knowledge asset
that is represented in <strong>the</strong>ir problem-solving skill, initiation, and <strong>the</strong>ir tendency for entrepreneurship, in
Burgman and Goran (2005) management skills are inevitable for more financial benefit. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
challenges <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital which is reported by <strong>the</strong> Danish Ministry <strong>of</strong> Science, Technology, and
Innovation is <strong>the</strong> management challenges which lead to upgrading <strong>the</strong> knowledge resources. The
next challenge is related to <strong>the</strong> innovations which necessary to overcome <strong>the</strong> challenges in
management.
Culture is so important to an organization. Lynn (1999) also concluded that organizational culture is
effective in successful use <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital. Schein (1999) suggested that an organization’s
culture helps it cope with its environment. The culture <strong>of</strong> an organization and its vision and purpose
must be in alignment for it to change (Wallach, 1983). Culture influences <strong>the</strong> communication skills and
decision-making processes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization’s members and affects its credibility (Kowalczyk &
Pawlish, 2002). Organizational culture also shapes <strong>the</strong> organization’s level <strong>of</strong> socialization and
learning (Cooke & Rousseau, 1988). Kowalczyk & Pawlish (2002) correlated <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> culture
to an organization’s competitive advantage, adaptability, and level <strong>of</strong> innovation. The culture <strong>of</strong> an
organization may affect organizational system operations, productivity, leadership actions (Taylor,
2003), performance (Cameron & Quinn, 1999), and organizational effectiveness (Valentino, 2004).
Research has shown that culture has influenced employees’ commitment (Webster, 2004) and
behaviors (Atchison, 2002).
Robbins (1996) has mentioned <strong>the</strong> key characteristics <strong>of</strong> organizational culture as follows:
1. Individual initiative: The degree <strong>of</strong> responsibility, freedom, and independence that individuals
have.
2. Risk tolerance: The degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative
and risk-seeking
3. Direction: The degree to which <strong>the</strong> organization creates clear objectives and performance
expectations
4. Integration: The degree to which units within <strong>the</strong> organization are encouraged to operate in a
coordinated manner
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