Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Marta-Christina Suciu et al.
Also, ever since <strong>the</strong> first items <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new language were created, <strong>the</strong> interest for possible
measurement and valuation ways increased considerable, so to conform <strong>the</strong> old principle <strong>of</strong> ‘what can
be measured, can be managed’.
Measuring Intellectual Capital for an organization is not an easy task. The main issue is that it deals
with intangible assets which can be measured at cost, at market, <strong>the</strong>ir contribution to cash flows or
o<strong>the</strong>r numerous possibilities <strong>of</strong> reporting <strong>the</strong>m. There are up to over 30 available measurement types.
In fact, probably <strong>the</strong> adequate way for an organization to measure its intangibles is by evaluating <strong>the</strong>ir
market value. But this poses <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong> a reactive approach that may leave <strong>the</strong> organization
lagging behind <strong>the</strong> competition.
Therefore a measurement model must be chosen according to several criteria (Choo, C. and Bontis,
N. 2002):
Auditable and consistent information (observers cannot interfere with <strong>the</strong> data, while information
sources should not be biased, following very strictly <strong>the</strong> evaluation system requirements, whe<strong>the</strong>r
it is a qualitative or quantitative measurement);
Not to impose a large measurement cost (keep in mind <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> analysis, to improve
<strong>the</strong> company, not hinder it, and avoiding losing control over <strong>the</strong> collection and management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
data base used);
Helping strategic and tactical management (<strong>the</strong> results must be useful);
Generate information for shareholders and investors (Intellectual Capital and Human Capital
reports for specific purposes);
Future, past and present.
Depending on <strong>the</strong>se criteria and exact needs an organization may choose from a palette <strong>of</strong> evaluation
models, to focus on financial valuation, value assessment or measurement.
However, when dealing with <strong>the</strong> evaluation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> educational system and its relationship with
intellectual capital, <strong>the</strong>re have to be solved at least three issues:
Limited financial flows (it is a special market: in Romania <strong>the</strong>re are a few private schools, <strong>the</strong>
overwhelming majority is formed by public schools);
Pr<strong>of</strong>itability cannot be a purpose; <strong>the</strong> objective must be to create a system that educates children
not one that gains money (in Romania <strong>the</strong> secondary and upper-secondary level is financed by
<strong>the</strong> state, also post-university and tertiary level, only for <strong>the</strong> best qualified beneficiaries);
It cannot be evaluated immediately but it must be observe how, after graduating from school or
o<strong>the</strong>r courses, trainings, etc., individuals develop pr<strong>of</strong>essionally (two-dimension framework <strong>of</strong> an
evaluation model must include <strong>the</strong>n and now for relevance).
Therefore it is difficult and <strong>of</strong> little importance to measure <strong>the</strong> financial aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system, although
<strong>the</strong>y cannot be ignored, but instead must focus on its ability to create value for society. This can be
done by evaluating <strong>the</strong> system by measuring statistical elements such as school abandonment rate,
rate <strong>of</strong> literacy, international results, but also how <strong>the</strong> individual develops.
4.2 The intellectual capital empirical study
4.2.1 Sample and data collection
The chosen research tool was a questionnaire specially designed, according to two objectives:
determining <strong>the</strong> current state <strong>of</strong> intellectual capital and ga<strong>the</strong>ring information for a valid intellectual
capital evaluation model, taking into consideration <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian education
system. Measurement items were adapted from specific literature where possible, while new items
were developed according to <strong>the</strong> defined goals.
The questionnaire was firstly tested and revised accordingly. The testing was carried out in November
2010 and <strong>the</strong> retrieval rate was 80%. This was performed for electronic questionnaires and on
material support.
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