Exploring the Intellectual Capital of a High Tech Industry: A Case Study of the Scientific Outputs of Defence Firms
Purpose: This paper explores the intellectual capital of the Greek defence industry by performing bibliometric analysis on the (co)authored scientific publications of defence firms. In the context of knowledge economy, scientific outputs are important indicators of the respective intellectual capital, a source of probable future economic benefits that can be retained and managed by firms. Design/methodology/approach: In order to identify the Greek defence firms three data sources were employed: the Registry of Manufacturers of Defence Material, the Greek Defence Material Association (SEKPY) and the Hellenic Association of Space Industry (H-ASI). The total number of firms amounts to 169. Out of this population, 42 firms were identified within bibliometric databases such as Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). Such firms, during the period of 1987 to 2021, have (co)authored 767 scientific publications with 848 different institutional affiliations and fall under 24 different subject areas. Findings: Findings indicate that the number of scientific publications shows fluctuant upward trends over time. In terms of industrial classification, the NACE codes of these over performing firms overlap the respective bibliometric Subject Area Classifications, indicating a coordination between scientific and industrial priorities. At cross-country level, results suggest that affiliated institutional sectors such as the Business Sector and Higher Education Sector contributed equally in terms of scientific output, indicating a strong industry-academia collaboration. Network analysis points out to specific collaboration patterns with the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" (NCSR Demokritos) constituting the top collaborators of the Greek defence firms. Originality/value: This study by identifying, imprinting and analyzing metadata emanating from scientific outputs intertwined with a high tech industrial sector enables the debate on knowledge-incentive activities for economic and industrial growth. In view of this, scientific performance, subject areas and network of collaboration are viewed as integral features for monitoring firms’ structural and relational capital.