Evaluating the innovation of the Internet of Things : Empirical evidence from the intellectual capital assessment

Purpose – The Internet of Things (IoT) represents the network connection of people, processes, data and things. Due to the relevant position that this intelligent infrastructure is acquiring, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of IoT on the companies’ value, with specific reference to the intellectual capital value. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a single case study approach with an empirical analysis which aims to analyse whether and how the introduction of the IoT’ innovations influences the value of the intellectual capital owned by a company. The evaluation method used for the empirical analysis is the Economic Value Added. The application is carried out on the company “Cisco Systems Inc.” by analysing the company’s financial reports covering the period 2007-2014. Findings – The paper demonstrates the impact of the innovation of IoT on intellectual capital owned by a high intensity cognitive company by determining its economic value. The results demonstrate that the introduction of projects involving the use of the IoT has increased the value of intellectual capital over the years. Originality/value – As the IoT can guarantee efficiency, social and individual benefits, the effects of the IoT on company performance and, particularly, on intangible corporate dimensions are analysed. Hence, the paper is directed to fill the literature gap on the analysis and evaluation of the IoT’ impact on intellectual capital owned by high intensity cognitive companies. The research proposes strategic advice for decision making of companies interested in new technology investments.