Validation a Scale for Measuring the Intellectual Capital in Universities

The purpose of the present study is to validate a scale for measuring the intellectual capital (IC) of universities. The population of the study included all the staffs who were employed in all branches of Islamic Azad University in Iran (i.e., 420 branches and educational centers). The research sample consisted of 996 staffs randomly selected from 86 branches and educational centers using stratified and cluster random sampling methods. The research instrument was the Bontis's (1997) intellectual capital questionnaire which consisted of 52 items with three underlying constructs of human capital, customer capital, and structural capital and Cronbach Alpha of 0.95; The results of factor analysis and principal components analysis, using a varimax rotation, showed that building blocks of intellectual capital includes customer capital (Items 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14, 17, 18, 22, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 40, 42, 44, 46, 50, 51, and 52), structural capital (Items 1, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 29, 30, 31, 33, 43, 47, and 48), and human capital (Items 5, 12, 28, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 45 and 49). The three underlying factors in intellectual capital show that the scale almost generally covers these factors and the results of its administration, its validity, and the level of IC in universities determined by the scale are generally acceptable. Structural capital showed the highest contribution to the construction of the intellectual capital.