Knowledge management and intellectual capital in knowledge-based organisations: a review and theoretical perspectives

Purpose–This paper provides a conceptual discussion of the bidirectional relationship betweenknowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) in a specific subset of knowledge-basedorganisations, i.e. professional sport organisations. Through the review and conceptual discussion of tworelevant research themes, i.e. KM strategies for IC value creation and IC codification, this paper aims tohighlight research gaps useful to future research.Design/methodology/approach–The authors apply a systematic literature review method to analyse66 management and accounting studies on KM and IC in sport organisations. Internal and externalvalidity tests support the methodology adopted.Findings–The authors provide a conceptual model to explain how KM strategies about IC investmentscan be optimal, i.e. they create value for all the stakeholders but also suboptimal, i.e. they create valueonly for a group of stakeholders. Next, they provide evidence of the opportunistic use of the codificationassociated with IC investments that impair financial reporting information transparency and misleadmanagers and investors.Practical implications–The results are informative for managers, regulators and policymakers tomitigate the inefficiencies regarding KM and IC codification and decisions.Originality/value–This study contributes to the understanding of the bidirectional relationship betweenKM and IC in knowledge-based organisations by focussing on professional sport organisations in whichKM and IC have played an important role for a long time. It also includes future avenues for advances inmanaging, measuring and reporting IC.