Italian state university contemporary performance plans: an intellectual capital focus?

Purpose - The current research aims to investigate what Italian state universities consider as intellectual capital (IC) in their performance plans. Universities assume a specific responsibility in the production and dissemination of knowledge and in the investment in research and human resources; consequently, a central role has been given to IC approaches in managing universities. Drawing from this, in 2009 Italy required state universities to issue a performance plan with a section devoted to IC.Design methodology approach - A content analysis was conducted to discover the type and extent of IC strategies in a group of 44 contemporary Italian state university performance plans issued in 2011.Findings - The findings show a variable focus on IC items, with a particular emphasis on aspects related to the development of relationships with external partners, supporting the idea that nowadays the university sector is strongly investing in the development of relational capital to achieve its third mission.Practical implications - In assessing practices of IC planning in Italian state universities, the current study highlights the path of development that will be undertaken by the Italian university system in the near future. This path allows us to evaluate the strategic position that the Italian university system will cover in the European higher education arena.Originality value - The paper makes an original contribution to research on IC strategies in universities, given the lack of empirical studies on such issues. It represents one of the first attempts to analyse IC in Italian state universities' planning processes.