The mediating role of relational capital for the academic performance effect of IC: the influence of digital technologies

Purpose: Different mechanisms allow intellectual capital (IC) to affect performance. In this paper, we set out to analyze the value of relations for the academic performance effect of IC and explore how the university’s reliance on digital technologies facilitates the contribution of IC to the overall academic performance. Design/methodology/approach: We develop a model linking elements of IC to academic performance in the form of teaching, research, and entrepreneurial activity. Our model is centred on relational capital that is supposed to directly fuel performance and mediate the link between the other two IC dimensions and performance. From a methodological point of view, we base our empirical investigation on a sample of Italian public universities and applied structural equation modeling to test the mediation and a group comparison to disentangle the effect of universities’ digitalization. Findings: We find a significant and positive effect of relational capital on performance. Relational capital fully mediates the relationship between structural capital and academic performance whereas, it only partially mediates the link between human capital and academic performance. We also suggest that digital technologies guide the prominence of the relationship in the university ability to fulfil teaching, research and entrepreneurship missions through IC. Originality/value: This study offers a representation of how the relational dimension of IC is the mean through which the stock of knowledge inside IC can be translated into entrepreneurial, education and research achievements and how digital technologies are essential for the exploitation of the performance effect of IC in the digital era.