The relevance of intellectual capital in Serbian ICT industry

Abstract

Information Technology (IT) is considered as an industry mainly driven by intellectual capital. The emerging business models in the IT industry stand testimony for its innovativeness. Software as a distinct business model has been the core segment of this industry. The emergence of this industry as a global industry is evident from its significant contribution to the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The role of this industry is so pervasive that a new concept, "IT led economic growth" has become popular. For a greater part of history, the role of India in the global economy was confined to that of being a supplier of raw materials to the developed West. But from the last decade of the second millennium, India has become synonymous with the IT industry. The meteoritic rise of the Indian IT industry has caught the attention of the developed countries of the West, to the extent of influencing their economic policies. The remarkable growth and development of this industry has also created a strong belief amongst many that, the driver of the knowledge economy of India is its IT industry in all certainty. Literature available on knowledge economy and intellectual capital shows that intellectual capital is the preeminent resource of knowledge economy. Further, intellectual capital-a new genre of intangible asset, occupies the assets portfolio of the knowledge intensive industries, like the IT Industry. However the fame of the Indian IT industry was marred by the collapse of Satyam Computers in 2008. Since then there is an instinctive skepticism over the wealth created by the IT industry. This cynicism has compelled us to evaluate the key drivers of performance of the Indian IT industry. In the present study we have evaluated the role of intellectual capital in the performance of the Indian IT industry, with an objective to enlighten the general public at large and investors in specific, on the relevance of intellectual capital in the Indian IT industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]