Purpose This article extends territorial intellectual capital (TIC) research by explaining how regions activate and convert intangible resources through mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP). It theorises TIC activation as a stage-sensitive process through which human, relational, structural and renewal capital are mobilised, recombined and made measurable. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory UK case study uses an insider–outsider research design and a qualitative, multi-method dataset comprising structured programme review records, an independent evaluation report and a policy workshop. Abductive analysis traced how mission-relevant actors, relationships, routines and capabilities emerged across the programme lifecycle and compared these developments with conventional monitoring metrics. Findings The case identifies four capital-activation pathways. Human capital develops from capability gaps to innovation confidence; relational capital progresses from connection-seeking to collaborative governance; structural capital grows through delivery routines, evidence-building and co-investment enablement; and renewal capital becomes visible through strategic reframing and adaptive learning. Cross-cutting capital-activating behaviours include problem framing, brokerage, legitimation, evidence-building, resource mobilisation, routinisation, strategic reframing and portfolio learning. Originality/value The study advances TIC research by moving beyond identifying territorial capital stocks to tracing how these capitals are activated and converted through mission-oriented programme delivery. It proposes an integrated TIC framework that links TIC to MOIP concerns for directionality, coordination and formative learning. The framework supports stage-sensitive indicators that make relational, organisational and capability-building effects visible within public accountability settings.
Purpose This study investigates how intellectual capital (IC) shapes Industrial Metaverse (IM) adoption by identifying key success factors and explaining how their relevance evolves across different stages of the organizational adoption process. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study draws on 33 semi–structured interviews with IM experts from business–to–business (B2B) environments. The data were analyzed using an inductive–deductive approach integrating the Technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework, diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and an IC perspective. Findings The findings identify 16 IM adoption success factors across the technological, organizational, and environmental dimensions and demonstrate how their importance changes across five adoption stages. By mapping these stage-specific success factors to human, structural and relational capital, the study explains how reconfiguring IC across the adoption process enables the transition from initial technological awareness to successful implementation and long-term organizational embedding. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to technology adoption and IC research by conceptualizing IM adoption as an ecosystemic and processual reconfiguration of IC rather than a purely technological implementation process. It further extends technology adoption research by highlighting the dynamic interplay between adoption stages, ecosystem pressures, and IC mobilization. Originality/value This study is among the first to integrate the TOE framework, DOI theory and IC perspectives in the context of IM adoption. It demonstrates that successful IM adoption depends less on technological readiness alone than on the continuous mobilization and reconfiguration of human, structural and relational capital.
Purpose This study aims to analyse the social and academic impact of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on documents and authors profiles from the perspective of Intellectual Capital (IC) theory. This overarching aim is addressed through two sub-objectives: (1) to examine the impact of the SDGs on scholarly documents and (2) to explore the impact of the SDGs on authors profiles. These two sub-objectives correspond to two complementary analyses: a documentary analysis and an authorship analysis. Design/methodology/approach This theoretical–empirical study is based on a search conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, which, after applying the relevant filters, resulted in 41 documents and 121 associated authors. Two types of statistical analyses were performed: a document-level analysis (descriptive) and an author-level analysis (using count data models), with the aim of complementing the information obtained from both sources. The research hypotheses corresponding to each sub-objective were supported. Findings Across both analyses, SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) emerge as the most impactful from both a social and academic perspective, as they exhibit the highest number of published documents, academic citations and visits originating from academic and non-academic readers. The count data models indicate that the number of published documents is the most significant variable in determining the social and academic impact of authors. Specifically, publishing on the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development has strong potential to shape science and society. Supported by the promotion of open science, this can facilitate the dissemination of these SDGs and raise public awareness of their achievement. Originality/value The research objectives addressed in this paper have not been previously reported. The SDGs are reinforced as impactful topics in both the social and academic domains through the theoretical and empirical findings of this study. IC theory is shown to be a consistent and useful framework for SDGs analysis, both in documentary and authorship assessments. We provide a table with practical implications titled “Intellectual Capital Action Plan for Achieving the 17 SDGs”. This work offers insights that may be valuable for assessing progress towards the 169 goals and 231 indicators established by the United Nations, as it provides an academic and social perspective that may be beneficial for expert evaluators monitoring SDGs achievement.
Purpose Green intellectual capital (GIC) is widely recognized as a critical asset for enterprises seeking to achieve sustainable innovation advantages. Drawing on the natural resource-based view (NRBV) and dynamic capability theory, this study develops a novel theoretical framework to examine how GIC influences sustainable oriented innovation (SOI) through the mediating role of exaptation and the moderating effect of environmental dynamism. Design/methodology/approach Using two-wave survey data from 368 Chinese manufacturers, we performed hierarchical regression analysis and applied the bootstrap method to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results show that exaptation mediates the effects of green human capital (GHC), green structural capital (GSC) and green relational capital (GRC) on SOI. Furthermore, environmental dynamism enhances the positive relationship between GIC and exaptation. Originality/value Our study reveals “exaptation” as the key mediating mechanism through which GIC drives SOI, thereby elucidating the internal process of resource transformation. By integrating the NRBV and DCT, it constructs a comprehensive “resource-capability-outcome” framework that uncovers the black box between resources and innovation. Furthermore, the finding that environmental dynamism positively moderates this relationship offers new insights for building dynamic sustainable innovation mechanisms in firms.
Purpose This article addresses the persistent “how” gap in public sector intellectual capital (IC) research. Moving beyond cataloguing IC components, it investigates how IC is mobilized and reconfigured within complex knowledge-intensive public organizations. Using Italian courts under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) as a critical case, it analyzes Collective Intelligence (CI) mechanisms as the essential mediators that transform static IC into dynamic, performance-enhancing capabilities. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory multiple-case study was conducted across three courts in Sardinia. Data from organizational documents and 49 semi-structured interviews with judges, administrators and lawyers were analyzed through a hybrid inductive-deductive approach, framed within the CI lens (Secundo et al., 2016). This method traced the process of IC reconfiguration under pressure of reform. Findings The study reveals a vicious cycle: Human Capital (HC) instability (e.g. high turnover) erodes Structural Capital (SC) and cripples Relational Capital (RC), severely limiting productivity. Crucially, the effective use of NRRP resources depends on activating specific CI mechanisms, procedural coordination, relational bridging and cognitive integration. These mechanisms orchestrate the interaction between HC, SC and RC, determining whether reform leads to adaptation or stagnation. Practical implications The findings provide a contextualized diagnostic tool for court managers. A key recommendation is to sequence interventions (e.g. stabilize HC before investing in complex SC) and leverage units like the “Ufficio per il Processo” (UPP) as explicit CI catalysts to foster IC governance within professional bureaucracies. Originality/value The article contributes to IC theory by: (1) reconceptualizing IC in public professional bureaucracies as a dynamic, configurational system where value emerges from interaction; (2) theorizing external reform mandate that triggers and shapes CI processes, thereby contextually refining Secundo et al.’s (2016) framework by specifying institutional pressure as a contingent catalyst for CI activation and (3) developing a process model of IC mobilization that is theoretically transferable to other justice systems and knowledge-intensive public organizations undergoing major reform. The study therefore provides a CI-mediation model that explains how institutional pressure initiates and guides the reconfiguration of IC in professional public bureaucracies.
Purpose Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in advertising. However, previous research has paid little attention to how AI-related resources shape employees' creative self-efficacy (CSE) or their innovation performance in professional creative settings. This study addresses this gap by examining how AI-related personal resources (learning orientation and digital skills) and contextual resources (organizational and technological support) influence CSE and innovation performance in the advertising industry. Design/methodology/approach A research model was developed to examine how AI-related personal resources and contextual resources shape employees' CSE and innovation performance. Survey data were collected from 422 employees in Taiwanese advertising firms whose work involved generative AI, and the hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that learning orientation, digital skills, organizational support, and technological support have significant positive effects on CSE. These findings indicate that individual and contextual factors jointly enhance employees' confidence in their creative abilities. Furthermore, CSE is positively associated with innovation performance, suggesting that strengthening these resources can improve innovation outcomes. Originality/value This study contributes to the generative AI and advertising literature by shifting attention from AI adoption to employee-level resources that enable effective AI-supported creative work. It also extends CSE research to a generative AI-enabled professional context and demonstrates how personal and contextual resources foster innovation performance in a creativity-intensive industry.
Purpose This study examines how public sustainability disclosures in European port ecosystems reveal the maturity of governance and measurement structures supporting circular intellectual capital (CIC) and credible circular transition claims. Rather than assuming carbon-insetting as an empirically established practice, this study uses insetting-like value chain decarbonisation initiatives as an analytical benchmark. Double materiality is interpreted as a governance maturity benchmark, avoided emissions (Scope 4) as a measurement maturity benchmark and knowledge decoupling as a lens for assessing the credibility of disclosure. Design/methodology/approach This study applies qualitative content analysis to sustainability reports, integrated reports and selected website disclosures from leading European ports. Automated analysis using Leximancer is combined with manual coding to examine how decarbonisation initiatives are disclosed and whether they are supported by observable governance, boundary-setting, measurement and verification cues. Findings The results reveal that European ports widely disclose value chain decarbonisation initiatives connected to human, structural and relational capital; however, the disclosure of advanced accountability elements remains uneven. Double materiality is only partially integrated, while avoided emissions (Scope 4) are rarely supported by explicit methodologies. This suggests that port disclosures are more developed at the level of operational decarbonisation narratives than at the level of governance and measurement architectures required for credible accountability. Originality/value This study contributes to intellectual capital and sustainability disclosure research by repositioning CIC as a capability whose credibility depends on the governance and measurement structures through which it becomes publicly visible. It also advances a diagnostic approach to port disclosures by using double materiality and avoided emissions as maturity benchmarks and knowledge decoupling as a lens for distinguishing aspirational claims from more bounded, structured and credible forms of disclosure.
Purpose This study investigates how mandatory artificial intelligence (AI) agent implementation, conceptualized as structural-capital deployment, paradoxically reconfigures human capital in cross-border e-commerce SMEs. Drawing on the intellectual capital (IC) literature and Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory as the micro-foundational lens, we examine the dual psychological pathways through which structural-capital investments translate into divergent human-capital outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A sequential multi-method design integrates a two-wave survey of 461 employees across China and Europe - analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the measurement invariance of composite models and multi-group analysis (MICOM/MGA), importance-performance map analysis (IPMA), and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) - with 45 semi-structured interviews (30 Chinese and 15 European) coded using Gioia et al.'s three-stage procedure. Mandatory AI use was verified through HR confirmation, policy-document audit, and self-report triangulation. Findings Mandatory AI simultaneously augments human capital via perceived task enablement and erodes it via perceived job insecurity, while exerting no direct effect on employee experience. Full measurement invariance and non-significant MGA results confirm cross-regional structural consistency; interviews revealed institutional boundary conditions affecting how the mandate is interpreted. Trustworthiness uncertainty operates predominantly configurationally rather than through simple linear moderation. Practical implications IPMA prioritizes managerial action: insecurity mitigation > trustworthiness calibration > enablement maintenance. Three profiles - Enablement-Dominant Adopters, Trust-Tested Power Users, and Mandate-Tolerant Stable Performers - translate fsQCA configurations into intervention-ready employee types. Originality/value The study supplies the micro-foundational mechanism missing from prior IC accounts, introduces perceived human capital development as a complementary IC-specific outcome and robustness check, and uncovers equifinal configurations through which compelled structural-capital deployment yields positive human-capital outcomes across institutional contexts.
PurposeThis study systematically reviews how women's leadership contributes to human capital performance by identifying relevant attributes, leadership processes, organizational enablers and contextual barriers that influence outcomes. Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was conducted on 1,709 articles indexed in Scopus between 1976 and 2024, using screening and quality assessment procedures based on Tranfield et al. (2003). After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 59 articles were selected for in-depth analysis. The findings were synthesized into an integrative conceptual framework adapted from DeRue et al. (2011) and Buss et al. (2024), incorporating qualitative and quantitative evidence. FindingsA review of 59 empirical studies shows that role congruity, social role and leadership theories are most used. Women’s leadership attributes influence individual and organizational performance through transformational behavior, self-efficacy and relational dynamics shaped by gender climate and culture. Based on these findings, this review outlines a theoretical model of women’s leadership, connecting multi-level factors with behaviors, barriers and outcomes. So far, limited empirical work has explored the causal relationship between women's leadership and human capital outcomes. This result signals the need for further theoretical development and stronger methodological designs. Practical implicationsThe review shows that building women’s confidence and leadership identity matters, but this cannot work well unless organizations also address the structural barriers that keep women from participating equally. The study provides practical guidance for organizations and policymakers on how to strengthen inclusive leadership through training that is sensitive to gender dynamics, offering fair opportunities for advancement and implementing policy measures that support the goals of Sustainable Development Goal 5. Originality/valueResearch on women’s leadership and human capital performance remains fragmented. This review synthesizes evidence to show how multi-level factors shape leadership behaviors under structural barriers and generate individual and organizational outcomes. It gives scholars a lens for future theoretical and methodological exploration.
PurposeThis study investigates the complex relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) and firm performance, highlighting the historical and evolving trends, key issues and increasing interest of shareholders in the role of IPR. Design/methodology/approachThis study presents a bibliometric analysis combined with a PRISMA-based systematic literature review to examine the evolution of IPRs and their influence on firm performance. It further proposes a conceptual framework that identifies key antecedents, mediators, moderators and outcomes – emphasizing how patents, trademarks and copyrights shape innovation, R&D activities, competitive positioning and sustainability-oriented strategies. FindingsThis study reveals that distinct forms of IPR protection significantly impact firm performance metrics, influencing innovation, competitive positioning and strategic investment in R&D. The analysis demonstrates that effective IPR management can enhance market competitiveness, thus attracting shareholder interest in developed markets. Additionally, the study identifies significant themes and keywords critical to advancing future research on IPR’s influence on firm performance. Practical implicationsThe research highlights practical insights for managers and policymakers in leveraging IPR as a tool to drive innovation, enhance market competitiveness and support sustainable development goals through R&D investments and strategic IP management. Originality/valueThe research provides a comprehensive examination of the antecedents and consequences of IPR on firm performance. It contributes to the extant literature by establishing a foundation for future studies on the intersection of innovation, IPR and firm performance, serving as a reference for scholars and practitioners interested in IPR strategy and its impact on organizational success.
PurposeWhile extensive research examines the environmental impact of green intellectual capital (GIC), the mechanisms enabling compliance with mandatory sustainability reporting standards remain underexplored. This study conceptualises green accounting capability (GAC) as a dynamic intervening mechanism that translates GIC into sustainability reporting compliance (SRC).Design/methodology/approachWe analysed data from 279 sustainability managers at Indonesian manufacturing firms. Our multi-method approach uniquely combines three techniques: (1) partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the measurement model and hypotheses; (2) necessary condition analysis (NCA) to examine bottlenecks; and (3) fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to reveal equifinal pathways.FindingsWe found that GAC mediates the relationship between green structural capital (GSC) and SRC, whilst intervening in the relationships between green human capital (GHC) and SRC, and between green relational capital (GRC) and SRC. GRC exhibited the most substantial total effect. NCA reveals evolving bottlenecks, whilst fsQCA identifies five equifinal pathways. The externally validated systems route (GSC center dot GRC) proved the most prevalent.Practical implicationsFirms can achieve high SRC through five distinct pathways, enabling resource-optimised strategies rather than universal best practices. The bottleneck analysis provides a 12-month implementation roadmap addressing sequential constraints. Policymakers should recognise pathway plurality rather than mandating uniform compliance approaches.Originality/valueThis paper makes four theoretical advances: (1) it conceptualises GAC as a dynamic capability distinct from structural capital; (2) it demonstrates configurational equifinality in GIC deployment, challenging universal best-practice assumptions; (3) it reveals sequential bottlenecks, suggesting staged capability development; and (4) it provides the first empirical evidence combining three complementary analytical methods for intellectual capital research.
Purpose While the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) offers new avenues for employee creativity, its effectiveness remains debated. Specifically, translating the frequent updates of diverse AI applications into tangible creative outputs is challenging. Grounded in the theory of dynamic capabilities, this study investigates the micro-mechanisms through which employees' AI application portfolio update capabilities drive creativity. We elucidate how intellectual capital mediates this relationship by bridging cognitive gaps, and how ambidextrous leadership moderates it by alleviating cognitive tension. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey method with 1.5-month intervals, yielding 307 valid responses from employees in China's Yangtze River Delta smart manufacturing sector. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping was used to test mediation, while hierarchical regression analysis assessed moderation effects. Findings Our findings demonstrate that the capability to update AI application portfolios significantly enhances employee creativity. This relationship is partially mediated by three dimensions of intellectual capital: renewal, structural and human capital. Furthermore, both open and closed leadership positively moderate this relationship. Originality/value By extending the concept of AI application portfolio update capabilities to the individual level, this research broadens the scope of dynamic capabilities theory. It maps the transformation of AI from a mere technical tool into a cognitive catalyst. Practically, the findings offer managers actionable strategies to systematically cultivate employee technological capabilities, optimize intellectual capital and deploy context-adaptive ambidextrous leadership in the AI era.
Purpose This study aims to systematically examine the impact and nonlinear characteristics of green intellectual capital on corporate ESG ratings, and to thoroughly identify the multiple transmission mechanisms and boundary conditions of green intellectual capital in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Based on data from Chinese A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2010 to 2023, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model to empirically test the relationship between green intellectual capital and ESG ratings, identifies specific pathways through mediation effect models, and conducts robustness tests using instrumental variable methods and alternative variable approaches to mitigate endogeneity issues. Findings Green intellectual capital significantly enhances corporate ESG ratings and exhibits nonlinear characteristics with increasing marginal effects, indicating that the synergistic effects of green human capital, green structural capital, and green relational capital accelerate their release after reaching a certain accumulation threshold. The study reveals that green innovation capability, stakeholder relationships, and information disclosure quality are three key transmission pathways. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this effect is more pronounced in heavily polluting industries, state-owned enterprises, and regions with high marketization levels. Originality/value This paper extends the application boundaries of intellectual capital theory in the field of sustainable development, constructs a multi-pathway transmission framework through which green intellectual capital affects ESG ratings via green innovation capability, stakeholder relationships, and information disclosure quality, and reveals the threshold effects and heterogeneous boundary conditions for the value release of green intellectual capital.
Purpose While paradoxical leadership has been recognized as an important antecedent of employee ambidextrous behavior, existing research has explained this relationship mainly through motivational and socio-cognitive mechanisms. This study shifts attention to a knowledge-based micro-process by examining how paradoxical leadership shapes employees' knowledge resource management and, in turn, employee ambidextrous behavior. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the knowledge-based view and social cognitive theory, this study tests a serial mediation model in which knowledge resource orchestration capability and knowledge resource sharing willingness link paradoxical leadership to employee ambidextrous behavior. It also examines whether proactive personality weakens the effects of paradoxical leadership on knowledge resource orchestration capability and knowledge resource sharing willingness. Data were collected from 434 employees using a two-wave time-lagged design. Findings Paradoxical leadership was positively related to employee ambidextrous behavior. Knowledge resource orchestration capability and knowledge resource sharing willingness each mediated this relationship, and they also formed a significant sequential mediating path. In addition, proactive personality negatively moderated the relationship between paradoxical leadership and knowledge resource orchestration capability, as well as the relationship between paradoxical leadership and knowledge resource sharing willingness, such that both relationships were weaker at higher levels of proactive personality. Originality/value This study contributes to research on employee ambidextrous behavior by introducing a knowledge-based micro-process through which paradoxical leadership operates. Specifically, it highlights the sequential roles of knowledge resource orchestration capability and knowledge resource sharing willingness, and it identifies proactive personality as a boundary condition that weakens the effects of paradoxical leadership on both knowledge-related mechanisms.
Purpose Based on the theories of ambidextrous innovation and dynamic capabilities, this paper examines both the theoretical and empirical aspects of the impact of intellectual property (IP) protection on firms' ambidextrous innovation and its underlying mechanisms. The findings offer new insights into the influence of IP protection on firms' ambidextrous innovation. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model is proposed based on dynamic capabilities theory, and a DID approach with multiple time points is employed to explore the impact of IP protection on the ambidextrous innovation of listed firms in China from 2007 to 2022, along with the underlying mechanisms. Findings The findings indicate that IP protection significantly enhances firms' ambidextrous innovation capabilities, with the results remaining robust after various tests. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises and technology-intensive industries. Further investigation suggests that improving resource allocation efficiency and reducing perceptions of economic policy uncertainty(EPU) are key mechanisms driving the enhancement of ambidextrous innovation. IP protection fosters the positive transformation of ambidextrous innovation, with the enhancement of knowledge diffusion and diversification playing a pivotal role in this process. Originality/value First, building on previous research, this study constructs a conceptual model to examine the impact of IP protection on firms' ambidextrous innovation from the perspective of institutional stability. This approach offers a more comprehensive view of current IP protection studies. Second, by integrating intellectual property theory with dynamic capabilities theory, this paper expands the application of dynamic capabilities theory from the standpoint of IP protection, thereby enriching the theoretical connotations of dynamic capabilities.
Purpose The growing importance of publication-related quantitative indicators in the development of academic careers has driven the publish or perish culture, making the study of scientific productivity increasingly relevant. In this context, understanding which management practices in scientific teams help improve the performance of members is a pertinent contribution. Design/methodology/approach This paper adds empirical substance to the discussion by analysing the moderating effect of (1) leadership style (task- or relationship-oriented) and (2) human resources management practices (HRM) on the relationship between human capital and scientific productivity. To test our hypotheses, we employ hierarchical multiple regression analysis using perception-based data collected from a sample of 117 management scholars. Findings The results reveal critical insights into the determinants of scientific productivity, providing valuable guidance for designing management strategies within these units. Specifically, the results provide empirical support for the moderating effects of task- and relationship-oriented leadership styles, although these were only partially confirmed. Furthermore, the hypotheses regarding the moderating role of HRM practices were supported specifically for documentation and external collaborative practices, while other HRM dimensions remained unsupported. Research limitations/implications The study is based on data from the management field and relies on the participation of a single member from each scientific team as an informant to test the hypothesis. Future research could replicate this study by examining institutional differences or exploring other fields of knowledge. Practical implications This study highlights the need for universities to provide adequate support to principal investigators through appropriate training and resources, enabling them to develop the capabilities required to lead scientific teams effectively. Moreover, the findings have important implications for the internal management of research groups, as they can be leveraged to strengthen academic human capital and, in turn, enhance institutional performance. Originality/value The results of the study have interesting implications for principal investigators (PI), offering a useful guide for improving their members' scientific productivity.
Purpose This study investigates how integrated due diligence frameworks can bridge the critical gap between circular supply chain principles and Industry 5.0 implementation by leveraging intellectual capital dimensions. It addresses the disconnect between circular economy aspirations and Industry 5.0's human-centric technological capabilities in complex supply chain contexts, proposing a comprehensive benchmark-driven framework.Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach combines systematic literature review with iterative expert consultations through the Delphi method to identify critical implementation gaps. The best worst method (BWM) ranks identified challenges by weighted significance, while ELECTRE facilitates multi-criteria prioritization of solutions. The integrated framework synthesizes digital technologies (AI, blockchain, real-time analytics), sustainability criteria and human-centric practices as bridges supporting transparency, circularity and operational agility.Findings The research demonstrates that integrated due diligence frameworks successfully bridge the circular supply chain-Industry 5.0 gap by prioritizing ethical sourcing, human-centric practices and sustainable operations over purely technological approaches. Human-machine collaboration, enhanced transparency mechanisms and circular mindset adoption emerge as essential connectors enabling superior responsiveness and sustained performance across the circular-digital divide, with intellectual capital serving as the foundational enabler.Research limitations/implications While the framework effectively bridges conceptual and practical gaps through expert validation, broader empirical testing across diverse industrial sectors and geographical contexts is required. The rapidly evolving nature of both circular economy principles and Industry 5.0 technologies necessitates continuous framework refinement.Practical implications Supply chain practitioners can utilize this integrated framework to systematically bridge circular supply chain objectives with Industry 5.0 technological capabilities, providing actionable pathways for implementing digital due diligence tools, fostering human-technology integration and achieving sustainable value creation while managing complexity and regulatory compliance.Social implications The framework promotes social sustainability by emphasizing ethical sourcing, stakeholder transparency and worker well-being as fundamental bridges between circular economy principles and Industry 5.0's human-centric vision, thereby enhancing social value throughout global supply networks.Originality/value This research uniquely integrates and extends the fragmented literature on circular supply chain implementation, Industry 5.0 adoption and intellectual capital dimensions by proposing a structured, multi-criteria due diligence framework. It contributes novel insights into how sustainable practices and digital technologies can be systematically integrated through multi-criteria decision-making methodologies to achieve next-generation supply chain resilience.
PurposeThis study explains how circular economy-oriented intangible resources are converted into sustained innovation outcomes by examining how circular intellectual capital (human, structural and relational) translates into generative performance through knowledge orchestration and circular transformation practices.Design/methodology/approachWe used a three-wave, time-lagged survey of managerial key informants from circular-initiative firms in Mainland China (final matched sample n = 122), spanning manufacturing and product-centric logistics/service SMEs. Hypotheses were tested using variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping.FindingsCircular human, structural and relational capital each positively predict both circular knowledge orchestration potential and circular knowledge orchestration realized. However, orchestration potential does not significantly translate into orchestration realized. Both orchestration states independently stimulate circular transformation practice, which in turn increases generative performance. Indirect effects are supported through two paths: (a) via orchestration potential and transformation practice and (b) via orchestration realized and transformation practice.Originality/valueThe study advances resource orchestration logic in circular settings by showing that orchestration potential and realized are distinct capability states rather than a necessary sequence and by identifying circular transformation practice as the behavioral conduit through which circular intellectual capital yields generative performance.
Purpose This study strengthens the theoretical consolidation of circular intellectual capital (CIC) by examining how circularity is made practicable, durable and legitimate through configurations of human, structural and relational capital in a highly regulated circular service ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach We adopt a qualitative, theory-building single-case design in the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) sector. Primary data include 12 semi-structured interviews with 10 senior informants (organisational actors and external experts/managers), complemented by triangulation. Data were analysed inductively through the Gioia methodology, moving from informant-centric concepts to researcher-centric themes and aggregate dimensions. Findings CIC emerges as an assurance-oriented infrastructure. Circular structural capital centres on a “chain of evidence” (traceability, authorisation coherence, standardisation and audits) that renders circularity verifiable and auditable. Circular human capital is characterised by hybrid technical, regulatory, and safety competences sustained through learning loops. Circular relational capital operates as ecosystem governance (partner qualification, shared standards, and collaborative problem-solving). A hybrid social–environmental mission and evidence-based accountability further stabilise CIC and mitigate risks of symbolic circularity. Originality/value Our study advances CIC beyond disclosure-centred accounts by theorising verification and accountability infrastructures as constitutive elements of credible circularity, with implications for the management and governance of regulated circular service ecosystems. Unlike green intellectual capital, which primarily extends intellectual capital through firm-level environmental orientation, the revised argument shows that CIC becomes analytically distinctive when circular outcomes depend on ecosystem-level verification, reverse-flow coordination, and accountability infrastructures.
