Consistent with the leading extant literature, the importance of intangible assets in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage is corroborated once again in this study. Moreover, this paper provides an interesting and in-depth illustration of IC and KM approaches within an original small asset management company - firms that are usually excluded from the realm of knowledge-intensive organisations in literature. MAML constitutes a unique organisational exemplar as it negotiated the worst of the financial crisis not only in terms of surviving it, but also in terms of thriving through product development accompanied with new investment solutions and the evolution of the existing ones. This has enabled MIFL and its distributors to grow in terms of AUM. Its innovation-driven culture implying a heavy reliance on its IC stocks and KM practices is at the core of MAML’s organisational performance. The firm managed to build a strong knowledge-based business process that fosters innovation. Another interesting practical implication worthy of note is that this paper provides insights into how the human capital has been transformed into organizational capital, aiming at reducing the firm’s dependence on the individual capital.
The results of this empirical study are limited from some aspects and first, by its reliance on a single case. The qualitative analysis and interpretative approach chosen here to make a contribution to research is highly subjective and reflects the authors’ points of view. Then, the choice of the particular context offered by the Irish asset management
industry is not random as it is assumed to exacerbate companies’ strategic actions in order to compete successfully. Further research should consider investigating more cases in an attempt to generalise results. A fruitful avenue would also emerge from a comparison with small asset managers’ competitive moves in a more stable and bullish environment.
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