Identification of Organization-Centric Intangible Capital in the Hospitality Industry

The pertinent investment in intangible assets is expected to lead to a firm's higher productivity and competitiveness. This study suggests that a restaurant firm should identify core intangible assets for its business, manage them systematically, and measure their value contribution. The essential thrust is to identify key intangible value resources and establish their measurement, which then helps measure the financial contribution of each intangible asset and make an investment decision on it. Thus, this study was purported to identify key organization-centric intangible value assets in the context of the casual dining restaurant industry, develop their measurement, and examine their contribution on a firm's market value. Findings will help improve understanding of what intangible assets are critical and apply the concept to a strategic and operational management.

Based on an in-depth literature review covering a wide range of areas, the following six of the most widely agreed upon domains of organizational capital were identified: innovation capital, organizational process capital, organizational culture capital, organizational learning capital, information system capital, and intellectual property capital. This structure of the six most important domains of organizational capital was verified through subsequent interviews with five experts, the pilot test with ten experts, and three rounds of the Delphi survey.

Seventeen sub-dimensions were identified through the literature review, interviews, the pilot test, and the Delphi study with professionals. This industry-specific categorical system helps a firm identify and manage various types of intangible resources more precisely and efficiently. Furthermore, it can enable restaurant management to clearly understand how to cope with different types of intangible resources and how to gather, create, use, share, and develop them more appropriately. The findings can be grouped into the following conclusions.

Seventy measurement indicators were developed to measure a firm's organizational capitals. Unlike using subjective perceptual measurement scales, the measured values using the objective measurement scales are consistent regardless of time or people. Therefore, the financial value (or contribution) of each of the six organizational capitals can be estimated more precisely along with the data of firms' market value.