The business model and intellectual capital in the value creation of firms: A literature review

The purpose of this paper is to analyze business model (BM) and intellectual capital (IC) of a firm with a focus on their common elements. The common bases in the field of strategic management for these two concepts are, among others, resource-based view, knowledge-based view, intellectual capital-based view, dynamic capabilities, and configurational approach. It indicates areas in which these two concepts can benefit from each other, e.g. in classification of components, their configuration, or dynamic approach. This general review examines the following research questions: What are the common concepts for the BM and IC? What are their common components? What does the dynamic approach to IC and BM mean?

The Web of Science™ Core Collection database was selected for the period 1975-2014 and the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC) indexed in Scopus^® (Elsevier) was incorporated into the analysis for the period it had been indexed by Scopus (1990-2015). These databases were selected because they offer a reliable overview of historical data regarding journals, articles, and citation impact. The key filter criteria were the presence of the phrases “business model” or “intellectual capital” in the article title, abstract, and key words in order to narrow down the selection to the most appropriate results for the research area.

This paper investigates two concepts from the point of view of their underpinnings in management, definitions, and components, as well as value creation. Analysis of the foundations in management allows the author to present a cohesive model, which depicts a comprehensive approach to analysis of these two concepts. Many common elements have been identified and investigated.

First, it provides an indication of the common underpinnings of the analyzed concepts within the framework of strategic management and proposals for their development toward resource, knowledge, and IC accumulation, combination and heterogeneity-based views. Second, it presents an analysis of the BM and IC components, showing common elements between them. Third, it provides a description and analysis of dynamic view of BM and IC components in a value creation context.