Measuring of intellectual capital investments in higher education: case of Latvia

Purpose Intellectual capital (IC) investments yield both financial and non-financial outcomes, and several groups of stakeholders are beneficiaries in the process. There are different approaches to appraisal of IC investments; most of them emphasise financial benefits. In turn, non-financial return is difficult to measure because of the lack of measurement indicators, as well as unavailability of accounting data and/or statistical data. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate non-financial return on investments in IC, based on the financial data of Latvian higher education institutions (HEI). Design/methodology/approach The methodology of Social Return on Investments (SROI) was applied. SROI metric is used to measure an expected return, considering the anticipated social benefits of an investment against its costs. The procedure is based on the principles of the "time value of money" concept and stakeholder management theory. Findings Non-financial outcomes (benefits) from investments into implementation of e-learning study process were defined, separately for each stakeholder group. Specific metrics for each outcome were determined, and the result was estimated (expressed in monetary form). Research limitations/implications There are different types of IC investments, but the authors of the given paper focussed on the digitalisation of study process, i.e. investments into the process of implementation and development of on-line studies were analysed. The proposed approach (SROI) is applied for measuring of IC investments, based on financial data of only one Latvian HEI. Originality/value SROI estimation for financial assessment of implemented innovations in Latvian higher education was made. This approach can help organisations to make decisions about IC investments, and the authors' application of the methodology can be used as a pattern for HEI executives. This paper provides an example of the practical application of the methodology, using HEI real financial data.