Effect of Intellectual Capital on Competitive Advantage in the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Companies

Abstract

The current study is considered as a quantitative explanatory study aims to examine the effect of intellectual capital (human, relational and structural capital) on competitive advantage in Jordanian pharmaceutical companies. In addition, it aims to explore awareness of the importance of intellectual capital and dimensions of competitive advantage in the targeted companies A survey strategy was applied thorough a self-administrated questionnaire as the data collection method. 13 pharmaceutical companies that were registered in the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical manufacturers (JAMP) in 2016 were targeted in this study. The total number of all general managers, deputy managers, head of departments and head of divisions in the 13 companies was 220 they were all targeted, however, 207 questionnaires were returned. Statistical tests within SPSS package were used to analyze the data. Results show strong statistical significant effect of intellectual capital (human capital, relational capital and structural capital) on competitive advantage in the Jordanian pharmaceutical companies at level (α ≤ 0.05). Findings also indicate that each of the intellectual capital constructs has its own effect on the competitive advantage.  According the results indicated for the awareness of the management in these companies to the importance of managing intellectual capital. For the awareness of competitive advantage dimensions the results revealed a moderate level of importance as addressed by the respondent of the study. The study has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge at academic and practical levels by extending knowledge regarding the effect of intellectual capital on competitive advantage . this study answers the call by many researchers for more studies to address the relationship the study constructs in emerging economies. Practically the study recommends that Jordanian pharmaceutical companies must provide training programs to support staff with specialized skill related to their jobs and tasks.  It is also recommended that recruiting and selection employees' process should consider professional and social applicants' competencies.

Keywords: intellectual capital; competitive advantage; human capital; relational capital; structural capital; pharmaceutical; Jordan.