Intellectual Capital Research in Romania: The Case of Developing a University Research Centre

The paper presents the case of developing the Research Centre for Intellectual Capital, within the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest. This Centre has been started immediately after our participation to the IC Congress 3-4 May 2007, organized by the Research Centre for Intellectual Capital, INHOLLAND University, Amsterdam, taking as a model the work pioneered by Professor Daniel Andriessen. We summarize its process of formation, considering its premises, its promoting factors, as well as the inertial forces which had to be overcome. Further on, we discuss the realism of its mission, based on the analysis of its internal and external environment, and list the main challenges for the centre, in a short-term, and in a long-term perspective, while advancing strategies to react to these challenges. Specific issues concerning Romanian university management and research management are outlined, in order for the audience to better understand the opportunities and limitations the centre is subject to. An evaluation of the present state and future scenarios of evolution constitutes the main outcome of this study, which raises an issue of interest for Romanian research in universities, in the broad sense, as well as for researchers focused on intellectual capital, in the narrow sense. Our conclusions serve as a base for comparison with other similar research centres in the world, by checking the relevance of our problems and solutions against reports from other peers engaged in the same kind of research. The situation of our centre, as presented in the paper, is illustrative for the positioning of a new field of study in the research context of Romanian universities, and may lead to a rethinking of the premises on which research is projected and supported. The importance of our presentation for the intended audience resides in the novelty of the research centre, in a country with an emergent economy, whose industry and academia discover, these days, the realm of intellectual capital. The case of this research centre is significant for the intangibles' revolution, in a society, the university included, still reluctant to the principles of this post-tangible era.