A Teleological Perspective towards the Definition and Measurement of Intellectual Capital

The employee-centered thinking bears the hallmark of a postindustrialization era, which culminates in the attempt to manage and measure intangible assets. Nevertheless, invisibility of the IC construct per se generates insurmountable divisions ontologically and methodologically. We adopt a teleological perspective to classify and simplify extant IC metrics so as to single out the fundamental issues concerning its measurement. Moral considerations are stressed to materialize the faithful marriage between the human focus and the efficiency focus of business conducts related to IC reporting. In the conclusion, we articulate theoretical and practical opportunities implied by the teleological perspective, which encompasses both utilitarian and moral considerations, in improving operationalization and measurement of IC.