Identification of intellectual capital (IC) within micro-, small-and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs): A case study of Cibuntu Tofu Industrial Center in Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract

As the ASEAN Economic Community's (AEC) inception has promoted and continues to promote deeper regional integration competition. Indonesia, as an AEC member enjoying significant commercial potential, represents a prospective marketplace for other ASEAN countries. Commercial competition between micro-, small-and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is increasingly fierce because they constitute one of the business sectors that significantly enhance Indonesia's internal economic growth. Thus, MSMEs within the country must exploit their potential more fully by, among other things, improving their intellectual capital (IC) in order to prove competitive. IC is one means of achieving a knowledge-based economy. This study aims to identify the existing conditions of IC in the Cibuntu Tofu Industrial Center of Bandung, one of the leading players in the Indonesian MSME sector. Those conditions will be the basis of IC model design, one of the means of creating competitive advantage. The research methodology presented here consists of several components. The data used in this study is primary in nature, being collected through semi-structured interviews with various respondents. The data analysis technique employed the intellectual capital statement as a tool to describe and evaluate IC using quantitative, qualitative and systematic assessment and impact factors, with the results of the analysis expressed in the IC management portfolio. These showed that there were 15 IC factors in the Cibuntu Tofu Industrial Center. This study's results indicated that the company's human capital component falls within quadrant two (stabilise), structural capital within quadrant four (analyse), and relational capital within quadrant two (stabilise).