Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to know whether those firms that achieve greater efficiency from their intangible resources (intellectual capital) also obtain greater performance; and to analyze the moderating role of family management on that relationship in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach: This paper conducts an empirical study with different econometric models using a panel data sample of 6,132 paired firm-year observations from Spanish manufacturing SMEs in the period 2000–2013.Findings: The findings suggest that intellectual capital efficiency is a key factor that allows the firm to achieve and maintain competitive advantages, obtaining greater performance. Additionally, this research also shows that the moderating role of family management can be a double-edged sword depending on the type of intangible resources.Practical implications: This paper may give managers an insight in how to better utilize and manage intangible resources available in their firms to improve competitive advantage and ultimately firm performance. Additionally, on the basis of the Socioemotional Wealth perspective (SEW), this article argues that family-managed firms that focus on SEW preservation can enhance the impact of structural capital efficiency on performance.Originality/value: This paper extends the prior literature by studying the joint effects of intellectual capital efficiency, distinguishing between human capital and structural capital efficiency, and family management on performance in the context of SMEs.

Purpose: – This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) reporting and transparency in Spanish universities. The purpose of this paper is to obtain new empirical findings and an enhanced understanding of the role of IC in an organizational change process is obtained.Design/methodology/approach: – In this study the authors developed a questionnaire which was sent to members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities in order to analyse the views of university stakeholders in relation to the university’s annual reports and the adequacy and potential of IC reporting to meet their information needs.Findings: – From the results of this study the authors are in the position of confirming the need for universities to offer information on IC in their accounting information model.Practical implications: – All these results lead us to assert that to improve the information contained in the current university annual reports, it is necessary to make accounting regulators aware of the need to extend the information provided in the current accounting statements. Giving users access to a type of information relevant for good decision making constitutes a healthy exercise in transparency for universities.Originality/value: – Although the scientific and professional literature has provided numerous studies about reporting a firm’s IC, further research is still needed for universities. This need is especially relevant when considering empirical supported IC models.

The impact of crises on the long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been attracting growing interest in the literature and from governments due to the significance of such companies with respect to economic growth, innovation, and employment. Although failure prediction models have been proposed based on accounting and other qualitative information, little is known regarding the influence of stakeholders on the failure process of SMEs. From the perspective of long-term sustainability, this article analyzes the role of the financial influence of stakeholders on the likelihood of business failure. An empirical study was carried out on a sample of 2352 Spanish SMEs, examining the differences between failed and non-failed SMEs and using a classification tree methodology to investigate the role played by each type of stakeholder in overcoming crisis events. The study provides empirical evidence regarding the relative importance of stakeholders to SMEs under conditions of financial distress, and proposes their categorization on the basis of their control over firms’ financial resources. Specifically, the analysis reveals that the capacity of the firm to generate sustainable wealth over time and to overcome critical situations is dependent on the most critical stakeholders. Workers, customers, and suppliers are the most important in ensuring the long-term sustainability of SMEs during the first stages of a crisis. Following the initial operational problems, other creditors (financial institutions) become relevant. In this sense, the results of this study encourage firms and governments to develop cooperation strategies with stakeholders (co-responsibility) in line with the proposed conceptual models of business sustainability.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to know the views of university stakeholders concerning intellectual capital (IC) reporting; second, to examine the quality of voluntary IC disclosure by public Spanish universities on their websites; and third, to analyze some of the potential factors affecting this kind of disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies a content analysis and a survey. The content analysis was used to analyze the websites of 50 public Spanish universities in the year 2016, while the survey was submitted to all members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities. Also, a regression analysis (ordinary least square model) is conducted to relate the disclosure index to its determinants. Findings: The results of this study show that human capital was the most disclosed category with relational capital being the least frequently disclosed. However, the quality of structural capital disclosures was higher than relational and human capital. Moreover, the results show that size and university’s internationality affect IC disclosure in Spanish public universities. Practical implications: This paper stimulates the debate between universities and policy-makers concerning the benefits related to IC reporting as a tool for addressing different stakeholders’ needs. In order to satisfy the information needs of university stakeholders, Spanish universities can be recommended to focus on reporting higher quality information on financial relations, students’ satisfaction, quality standard, work-related knowledge/know-how and collaboration between universities and other organizations such as firms, local government and society as a whole. Originality/value: This research brings new expertise regarding IC disclosure in higher education and to reveal some of the possible determinants to improve this disclosure.