Intellectual capital and bank’s performance: a cross-national approach

Purpose - This study aims to identify the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the bank’s performance using a cross-country approach with India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using the Skandia navigator model (SNM). Design/methodology/approach - This study uses a mixed-methods research approach by taking financial and non-financial measures to assess the impact of the IC on the bank’s performance using the SNM. The study implies an analysis of the data from the top ten banks in India and twenty banks in GCC countries. The selection was done based on the volume of the bank’s business for three years (2019–2020, 2020–2021 and 2021–2022). Findings - The research has three main findings: there is a positive impact of IC on the bank’s performance; amongst the factors of SNM, there is a direct impact of human capital and customer focus on the performance of the selected banks in both India and GCC countries; and the other factors of SNM such as structural capital and process focus, renewal and development focus also affect the selected banks. Research limitations/implications - The outcomes of the research may be useful for policymakers in India and GCC countries, as it identifies IC components that have a significant impact on the bank’s performance. This might enable them to develop policies that foster such factors, which, consequently, will improve the performance of the banks in the selected countries. Originality/value - This study is an attempt to fill the gap in the existing literature on IC and bank’s performance for two different types of countries using the SNM.