Customer Value Creation Process in Russian Companies: The Role of Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management Practices

Along with the recent rise of the knowledge economy, intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge have become the key elements for value creation. For companies on developed markets this statement has been confirmed in many studies. Even though this argument should also be true for emerging markets, prior research shows that Russian companies seem to lack the capacity to leverage the potential for creating value from intellectual capital and knowledge management (KM) practices. The previous research with the data from publicly available information shows that tangible assets and not intangible ones have a higher influence on value of Russian companies (Garanina, 2011). There is also a shortage of empirical studies demonstrating the relationship between knowledge management practices and organizational outcomes (Andreeva, Kianto, 2012). Our project aims to confirm or argue the results of previous research with application of other valuable methods and to make the intangible success factors of Russian companies visible with a concrete measurement approach. Our paper has an aim to define how intellectual capital elements and knowledge management practices lead to customer value creation. With the use of a questionnaire the unique data from top-management of 76 Russian companies is obtained. According to the main results of the research none of the knowledge-management practices influences the customer value of Russian companies directly. These practices play a mediating role through intellectual capital elements, which on their turn create the customer value. We also defined that development and recruitment practices employed by Russian organizations improve their human capital. The internal capital is positively influenced by the strategic knowledge-management practices and negatively influenced by knowledge protection activities within Russian companies. At the same time two elements of intellectual capital have a positive influence on customer value - human capital and internal capital. Within the paper we develop a model that reflects how knowledge management practices influence different elements of intellectual capital. The model also shows which elements of Intellectual capital create the customer value of Russian companies. These are preliminary results from an international research project on intellectual capital and knowledge management practices led by Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland).