Dirección estratégica

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm

National Intellectual Capital Index
A United Nations initiative for the Arab region
Nick Bontis
DeGroote Business School, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
KeywordsNational accounts programmes, Intellectual capital, Human capital, Arab Peninsula Abstract The intellectual capital of a nation (or a region of nations) requires the articulation of a system of variables that helps to uncover and manage the invisible wealth of a country. Most importantly, an emphasis on human capital allows for a better understanding of the hidden values, individuals,enterprises, institutions, and communities that are both current and potential future sources of intellectual wealth. This paper endeavours to address the Wve research questions. The main outcomes of this paper are the development of a national intellectual capital measurement methodology and index. The NICI is also used within a structural equation model to test several hypotheses related to nationalintellectual capital development. Knowledge is like light. Weightless and intangible, it can easily travel the world, enlightening the lives of people everywhere. Yet billions of people still live in the darkness of poverty – unnecessarily (World Bank, 1998, p. 1).

NICI: a UN initiative

13

Introduction Rapid technological advances in computational power and communication technologies aretransforming the nature of knowledge, skills, talents and the know-how of individuals in the workplace. Today’s global information marketplace requires a different kind of worker, one with competencies, attitudes, and intellectual agility conducive to systemic and critical thinking within a technologically-oriented environment. For public and private institutions in the Arab states region to succeed inthe new economy, this translates into restructuring industrial age organizational structures, processes, and mindsets to utilize the wealth-creating potential of people (Nsour, 2001).
The author would like to acknowledge the Wnancial support and thought leadership of the United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Arab States (UNDP/RBAS). SpeciWcally, the author would like torecognize Dr Rima Khalaf Hunaidi and Dr Maen Nsour who shared their valuable time and expertise with him in framing and reframing the process of measuring the intellectual wealth and development of Arab countries. This research paper is the product of collective ingenuity. The author selected and managed a team of bright and energetic research associates. Under the author’s guidance, Meaghan Stovel,Brent McKnight, Chris Giovis, Raed Abu Salem and Zaher Azzam provided a strong base of united intellectual horsepower.

Journal of Intellectual Capital Vol. 5 No. 1, 2004 pp. 13-39 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1469-1930 DOI 10.1108/14691930410512905

JIC 5,1

14

The intellectual capital of a nation (or a region of nations as is the case for this paper) requires the articulation of asystem of variables that helps to uncover and manage the invisible wealth of a country. Although the importance of knowledge as a strategic asset can be traced back several thousands of years, it was the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations that represented the Wrst evidence of the codiWcation of knowledge for the purposes of leveraging regional power with their implementations of nationallibraries and universities. More recently, Machlup (1962) was the Wrst to coin the term “intellectual capital” and used it to emphasize the importance of general knowledge as essential to growth and development. Alfred Marshall says “knowledge is our most powerful engine of production; it enables us to subdue nature and . . . satisfy our wants” (World Bank, 1999, p. 20). However, “knowledge is often...