Volume 11 - Volume 11
Intellectual Capital as a Panacea to Sustainability in Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises
Abstract
Small and Medium-scaled Enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the engine of growth globally, as they
play the critical role of economic diversification, job creation, entrepreneurial and technological
development as well as revenue generation. Despite their significance, the survival rate of SMEs is
shallow, especially in Less Developed Countries (LDCs), which posed a severe threat to macroeconomic stability, and significantly affect their sustainability. The study examines the
relationship between Intellectual Capital and the sustainability of small and SMEs in Nigeria.
Intellectual Capital (IC) was proxied by knowledge management (KM) and financial literacy (FL),
while sustainability was proxied by the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) goals. A critical review of the
available literature revealed that both knowledge management and financial literacy are crucial to
the sustainability (SUS) of SMEs. The study further revealed that SMEs operators do not have
adequate financial literacy, especially as it relates to risk exposure, which creates a threat to their
long-term sustainability. The study recommends, therefore, that SMEs operators should double their
efforts on knowledge acquisition and training, especially on financial concepts. Finally, the research
proposed a framework that could be used by SMEs to gain sustainability.
Paper Details
PaperID: 1915
Author's Name: Murtala Garba, Fauzilah Salleh and Usman Ahmed Hafiz
Volume: Volume 11
Issues: Volume 11
Keywords: Intellectual Capital, Financial Literacy, Knowledge Management, Sustainability.
Year: 2021
Month: May
Pages: 49-62