The Impact of Human Resource Configurations on Intellectual Capital in the Australian Biotechnology Industry

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of human resource (HR) configurations (combinations) on intellectual capital (IC) in the Australian biotechnology industry. Various stages of data analysis were undertaken to test the hypotheses including the preliminary analyses, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and regression analyses. The results have provided support for the view that the six HR configurations (recruitment & selection, training & development, documentation, information systems, egalitarian, and collaborative) were all significantly related to an organisation’s level of IC, human, organisational, and social capital respectively. It contributes to IC theory development, as the creation, formation, measurement, valuation, and reporting of IC are still at an early stage (e.g., Andriessen, 2004; Marr, Gray, & Neely, 2003; Wu, 2005), and some related important concepts lack a consensus (Canibano, Garcia-Ayuso, & Sanchez, 2000). In a practical sense, this study offers useful and specific managerial guidelines for effective IC management to practitioners in the Australian biotechnology industry.