Intellectual capital and service quality within the mobile telecommunications sector of Egypt

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) (i.e. human capital, structural capital, relational capital) and service quality (SQ) within the Egyptian mobile telecommunications setting. Design/methodology/approach A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 384 top- middle- and supervisory level managers from three Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies. Findings Hypotheses related to the relationship of human, structural and relational capital and their influence on SQ were tested. Results show that Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies have mostly emphasized the use of structural capital to boost their SQ. Research limitations/implications This is an empirical research applied in the Egyptian telecommunications setting. Its relationships need further investigation in other settings and countries. Also, the traditional limitations of a cross-sectional study apply with respect to the attribution of causality and the time lag effects. Practical implications The optimal procedure for the Egyptian mobile telecommunications companies is to focus their efforts on managing all three components of IC in order to improve their SQ and performance. Originality/value This is one of the very few researches to study the relationship between intellectual capital and service quality and the first to investigate these relationships in the Arab Region within the mobile telecommunications setting.