Leveraging Intellectual Capital Management in Virtual Teams: What the Covid-19 Pandemic Taught Us

Abstract

This study undertakes a review of the scientific literature on the role and impact of Intellectual Capital (IC) with all its components (human, structural and relational capital) on Virtual Team (VT) work. As already proven in the discipline research, IC as a summum of organizational knowledge resources plays a fundamental role in the knowledge economy in sustaining competitive advantage, innovation and performance. Despite an abundance of papers investigating VTs from both a theoretical and empirical perspective, a surprising discovery has been made during this research. The extent of work dedicated to analysing the relationships between IC and VTs is minimal, notwithstanding the unprecedented expansion of the use of VTs since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a first review of the extant literature regarding IC and VTs, a second literature review has been conducted for the benefit of revealing crucial aspects and the newest best practices in what concerns work in VTs. In doing so, the authors attempt to draw attention to the need for in-depth researches in the IC field, to catch up with the business, economic and societal most recent developments. Furthermore, this study aims to provide the practitioners with up-to-date, concise knowledge on the practical aspects relevant for the work in VTs.