Title: Intellectual human capital, corporate social innovation and sustainable development: a conceptual framework

Authors: Azlan Amran; Lim Chia Yon; Shaian Kiumarsi; Amar Hisham Jaaffar

Addresses: Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia ' Institute of Energy Policy and Research (IEPRe), Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Pahang, 26700, Malaysia

Abstract: Corporate social innovation (CSI) is an emerging concept that is fundamental for 21st-century businesses. Human capital plays a vital role in firms that seek to pursue CSI goals. This study introduces a management control system as an approach to achieve strong sustainability in business and society through CSI. This paper seeks to examine the role of intellectual human capital in CSI. The paper finds that CSI has distinctive corporate research and development activities that can be applied to complex sustainability issues. The paper reveals that the sustainability of business and society is dependent on factors of intellectual human capital. The theoretical findings reveal that the nexus between intellectual human capital, CSI and the sustainability of business and society can be explained within the assumptions of the theory of the resource-based view (RBV). This paper offers an in-depth review of the relationship between sustainability-related intellectual human capital and CSI.

Keywords: intellectual human capital; CSI; corporate social innovation; RBV; resource-based view; leadership; management control system; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2021.111550

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2021 Vol.15 No.1, pp.75 - 99

Received: 16 Mar 2019
Accepted: 07 Jun 2019
Published online: 01 Dec 2020 *

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