Intellectual capital and business performance: An exploratory study of the impact of cloud-based accounting and finance infrastructure
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper, building on previous studies of intellectual capital (IC) and business performance, is an exploratory study of how the use of cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure affects the business performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey method is used to capture perceptions of how cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure affects business performance in SMEs. The study assumes that although accounting/finance systems are generally regarded as one element of a firm’s structural capital; the introduction of a cloud-based infrastructure in the accounting/finance area has the potential to positively impact on all three elements of a firm’s IC. Based on the survey data collected, a conceptual model was formulated to test the relationship between cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure and business performance through the prism of firms’ IC.
Findings
The results indicate that cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure has a positive and statistically significant impact on human capital and relational capital. On structural capital, although positive, the relationship is not statistically significant. On the relationship between the three components of IC and business performance, all three elements are both positive and statistically significant. Furthermore, the R2 value generated for the ultimate endogenous construct in the hypothesised conceptual model, i.e. “Business Performance” is 71.3 per cent, indicating significant model explanatory power.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest further more in-depth research is needed to explore in detail the effects of cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure on both the IC and subsequent business performance of SMEs.
Originality/value
Studies on the effects of cloud computing on accounting are scarce. This exploratory research suggests that cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure can potentially improve the business performance of SMEs. While a valuable finding in itself, more research in this area is to be encouraged.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
First, the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of this paper for their helpful comments. Second, the authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Irish Centre for Cloud Computing & Commerce (www.ic4.ie), and in particular, Professor Theo Lynn. Third, thanks to participants at the following events: the MARG Conference, Birmingham, England, November, 2014; the 12th ACMAR, Vallendar, Germany, March, 2015; and, the 10th ENROAC Conference, Galway, Ireland, June 2015. Finally, the authors would like to thank Dr Wynne Chin, University of Houston, USA for providing a copy of the software application PLS-Graph Version 3.0 which was used in the data analysis phase of this paper.
Citation
Cleary, P. and Quinn, M. (2016), "Intellectual capital and business performance: An exploratory study of the impact of cloud-based accounting and finance infrastructure", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 255-278. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-06-2015-0058
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited