Investigating the impact of intellectual capital on competitive performancein Iran's banking system

Subject and Purpose of the Article:

 Subject and Objective The present study seeks the role of intellectual capital, financial literacy and business experience in attracting resources and sustainable competitive performance in banks and financial and credit institutions under the supervision of the Central Bank of Iran.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and is descriptive-survey in terms of type. The information related to the research questionnaire was completed by 281 managers of banks and financial and credit institutions of Mazandaran province in 2020. In this research, the structural equation model has been used to test the hypotheses.

The results of hypothesis testing show that intellectual capital has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive performance. The findings also indicate that intellectual capital has a positive effect on resource acquisition. On the other hand, resource acquisition has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage, it plays a mediating role in the relationship between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage. There was no significant relationship between business experience and financial literacy with resource acquisition, but financial literacy and business experience positively moderate the relationship between intellectual capital and resource acquisition.

Conclusion, Originality and its Contribution to the Knowledge:

 This study shows that intellectual capital is a vital factor for sustainable competitive advantage and the performance of banks in emerging markets. The innovation of this research uses the intangible performance of managers to measure intellectual capital.