Does the efficient use of visible intellectual capital determine the profitability in the automotive industry?

Intellectual capital (IC) is one of the core determinants of the value of companies, and value creation for stakeholders as well as improvement of the competitiveness of the companies. Effective management of all visible and invisible elements of the total IC is extremely important for business success, since the effective providing, creating, developing and efficient use of intellectual resources affects various business performances, such as income, market share, net profit, and profitability of the company quantified by various performance measures of Return on assets (ROA) and Return on equity (ROE). One part of the total IC is disclosed and visible in the assets side of the balance sheet (Intellectual assets and Goodwill - Iag), while the other, is undisclosed and invisible (Human capital - Hc and Structural and relational capital - SRc). Efficiency in the usage of all these elements of IC has an impact on profitability. The purpose of this research (based on 12 leading companies in the automotive industry from 2010 to 2019) is to examine the interdependence, as well as the influence, of the Efficiency in the use of Intangible assets and goodwill (Eiag) on various rations of ROA and ROE using the EIC (the Efficiency of Intellectual Capital) model for calculation of the Eiag indicator. Although there are numerous studies that use the VAIC methodology to research the interdependence and impact of the efficiency of certain elements of IC on business performance, as well as, in particular, on profitability, the originality of this paper is based on an investigation of the interdependence and influence of Eiag on profitability (ROA and ROE), which is not the case with the studies of other researchers so far, because Pulić's VAIC methodology does not separate the visible IC component i.e. Iag. The outcomes of this study confirm a positive relationship between the efficiency in the use of intangible assets and goodwill (Eiag) and profitability (ROA and ROE), as well as the growing impact of Eiag on profitability indicators (ROA and ROE). The findings imply the extreme importance of effective and efficient management of all elements of intellectual assets that are visible on the assets side of the balance sheet, taking into account the evident impact on profitability.