Investment to intellectual capital and its role on innovation: An empirical study in Libyan oil companies affiliated to national oil corporation (Noc)

Innovation broadly seen as the final output of the effective intellectual capital and essential component of competitiveness, embedded in the organizational structures, processes, products, and services within a company. This research aims to examine the effect of intellectual capital on types of innovation. In accordance with the literature, human capital, social capital and organizational capital were accepted as intellectual capital. However, as it was explained in many researches in the literature, product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organizational innovation were accepted as types of innovation. Based on the main purpose of the study an empirical research including seven firms affiliated to National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Libya was conducted. Data of the study was collected from senior managers of these companies by utilizing questionnaire technique. In order to discover the role of intellectual capital (human capital, social capital and organizational capital) on implementing different types of innovation (product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organizational innovation), correlation analysis and regression analysis were utilized. Thus, hypotheses of the study were tested in terms of statistical analysis. Findings reveal that human capital, social capital and organizational capital have different effects on types of innovation. In this context, human capital has the highest effect on types of innovation and this role is stemming from product innovation and process innovation, social capital has a slight effect and this role is stemming from process innovation, whereas organizational innovation hasn't any statistically significant effect on different types of innovation. According to the findings of the study, urgent procedures must be taken from Libyan oil companies for making investment to intellectual capital as a way of implentation of innovation.