The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of intellectual capital (IC) awareness among Portuguese bank managers and which disclosure techniques are most common. The annual report is regarded by some authors as the most important vehicle of information about banks’ affairs because of some specific characteristics of banks’ activities. However, organizations are increasingly using their webpages to disclose a broad spectrum of information. The objectives of this study are twofold: to investigate how Portuguese bank managers perceive the impact of IC disclosure on the bank’s competitiveness; and to assess the extent to which Portuguese banks voluntarily report their IC in annual reports vs webpages. The methodology involved in the exploratory study includes the collection of secondary data – annual reports and websites – collected from the 28 banks operating in Portugal, and semi-structured interviews from 25 banking managers. Content analysis is applied using a constructed index based on two European frameworks – Intellectus and InCaS – slightly modified to take into consideration the peculiarities of the sector. Results show higher level of IC disclosure in annual reports than that provided in websites. Human capital and structural capital are the most reported category in annual reports and, conversely, the disclosure of relational capital is higher in the webpages. Findings are found similar in comparison to various other studies on the subject which reveal very low level of IC disclosure, not yet receiving priority from the mentors of banks. Interviews reveal that not many managers recognize the need and significance of measuring and reporting IC, although it is recognized as a driver of competitiveness. For protecting business confidentiality, banks do not want to report information of sensitive nature. The analysis is limited to a single sector. Future research can expand to other industries (e.g. manufacturing, technological, services) to enable a more comprehensive understanding of IC disclosure in Portugal. The cross-sectional approach is also a limitation. A longitudinal study could be conducted for capturing the trend of reporting practices during the period. Further research could apply research methods other than content analysis (e.g. questionnaire survey, interviews or mixed-methods) in order to obtain a more in-depth view of how the Portuguese organizations manage, measure and report their IC. Research may be of relevance for both banking managers and regulators. For banking managers because it offers an opportunity to envisage their banks’ future potential for growth and competitiveness. For regulators, the relevance of the study focusses on their understanding of developing mandatory reporting or additional policy requirements. This study provides a motivation for further research that contributes to a body of knowledge and practices on the IC disclosure. Emerging from the years of a financial crisis, restoring trust and confidence is the most critical challenge for banks to become competitive. IC disclosure could help to restore confidence. The existing literature on the IC reporting and disclosure in the context of banking sector is limited. Based on the Intellectus model and the InCaS model we built an index of IC disclosure to banking sector which contributes to a greater accuracy, transparency and reliability in the disclosure of this unique sector. This initiative may encourage its applicability in other sectors.

To keep ahead of the completion, organizations look for continuous improvement in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Lean paradigm connected to SCM is a strategy based on cost and time reduction to improve the effectiveness. At the operational level, Lean Supply Chain (LSC) is focused on optimizing the processes of all supply chain, searching for simplification, reducing waste and reducing activities that do not add value. A well-defined lean supply chain measurement system increases the chance for success because it enables managers to see areas where supply chain performance can be improved, so they can focus their attention, and obtain higher levels of performance. There are a number of conceptual frameworks and discussions on supply chain performance measurements in the literature, however there is a lack of empirical analysis and case studies on performance metrics and measurements in the supply chain environment of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This research aims to develop a conceptual framework for managing LSC, integrating both financial and non-financial performance dimensions and so it expands the existent knowledge and provides indication of how LSC performance can be assessed and improved in this and other kinds of organizations. The proposed framework has been implemented in a Portuguese SME operating in the food manufacturing sector. A case study was developed to better understand the suitability of this tool

Despite the widely recognised importance of intellectual capital as a vital source of competitive advantage, there is still little understanding of how organisations actually combine their components to drive value. The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationships among intellectual capital components within the Portuguese banking context by extending a study completed by Bontis. Several paths are identified that drive towards superior performance. Various models are assessed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach given its advantages in dealing with complex models and its predictive capability. Empirical findings from this study support the proposition that intellectual capital is a driver of organisational value, but only in certain combinations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between getting quality awards by companies and their financial performance in Iran's business. Design/methodology/approach: In the first step, the relationship between awards scores and financial performance by canonical correlation analysis was examined. Then, binary and multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the degree of impact of each financial performance measure on getting quality awards. Finally, two forecasting functions were explored: the probability of achieving quality awards and the probability of achieving different levels of these awards. Findings: Based on the analyzed data of 112 companies through canonical correlation analysis, there was a weak relationship between financial performance and getting quality awards. Also, by using logistic regression, no result was found to prove the impact of financial performance measures on getting Iran's national quality awards. It can be concluded that conceptually, deployment of excellence organizational models will not result in favorable outcomes, especially in the financial scope. Also, practically, excellence models have not been well deployed in Iranian companies, or these models do not fit to Iran's business environment. Organizational culture may not be consistent with quality. Originality/value: Quality awards are given to qualified companies following the establishment of models of excellence such as the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The main novelty of this research is to clarify the relationship between getting quality awards by companies and their financial performance in Iran's business.