The Impact of Intellectual Capital on Financial Performance of Hotel Companies

Abstract

Although difficult to measure, intellectual capital (IC) is an essential resource for improving financial performance of companies. The hotel industry is characterized by being fundamentally a service provider, and is therefore very dependent of the IC components. Due to the small number of studies that relate IC with hotel sector, this research aims to understand the relationship between IC and financial performance of hotel companies. The sample is made up of 40 Portuguese companies in period between 2011 and 2017. To measure IC value was adopted the VAICTM model, a quantitative method that uses financial data. As representatives of the financial performance, the authors used the indicators of profitability: ROE, ROA, and ROI. The results prove that IC has a positive relationship with the financial performance of companies. Human capital proved to be the variable that has a greater impact on the variables of profitability, confirming the strong influence of human potential in hotel companies.