Intellectual capital and distinctive skills in SMEs of the timber industry in Argentina

In the knowledge economy, intellectual capital is increasingly becoming important as a source of core competences. A core competence is obtained by combining internal and external factors of the company by means of the strategy to generate better performance than its competitors. The Argentinian wood SMEs often have specific characteristics and, in particular, a limited intellectual capital. Consequently, it is expected that the process of establishing core competences is different. This paper analyzes the characteristics of that process. The results show how they organize their resources and capabilities to provide their competitiveness. This competitiveness leads to better organizational performance, but does not directly affect economic performance.

在知识经济（Knowledge Economy）时代，智力资本（Intellectual Capital）作为核心竞争力（Core Competences）的来源，其重要性与日俱增。核心竞争力指企业通过战略手段整合内外部经营要素，从而获得优于竞争对手的经营绩效的能力。阿根廷木材行业的中小型企业（Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs）往往具备独特的行业特征，尤其在智力资本储备方面较为有限。因此，这类企业构建核心竞争力的流程通常具有特殊性。本研究针对该流程的特征展开分析。研究结果显示，该类企业通过整合资源与能力来构建自身竞争力；该竞争力可有效提升组织绩效（Organizational Performance），但并不会对经济绩效（Economic Performance）产生直接影响。