Intellectual capital in services oriented firm: the case of Italian public utilities

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Intellectual Capital (IC) and its management within the services-oriented firms. It argues that IC and its management are as important as in a product-oriented firm. The authors aim to analyze the intellectual capital in the service-oriented firms, focusing on various components, such as human, structural, and relational capital (IC stock), and how to manage it (IC activities). Specifically, the authors examine IC stock and IC activities in a special type of Italian services firms: the Local Public Utility (LPU). These firms are peculiar since were affected by the privatization process and this has made a great need for rethinking the role of intellectual capital within their structure and how to handle it.