Challenging the IC Theory: Suggestions for Some Ways Forward Aino Kianto 1 and Sladjana Cabrilo 2 1 School of Business and Management, LUT University, Lahti, Finland 2 I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan aino.kianto@lut.fi sladjana@isu.edu.tw Abstract: Understanding how knowledge and related resources has permeated scholasticism and an intellectual capital (IC)- based view of the firm, and it has gained increasing weight in contemporary management literature. Manifold impacts of IC on organizational performance have been widely evidenced with management mechanisms for various IC dimensions to be found in most established organizations. As research is a strongly path-dependent activity, it seems natural that IC research may lean on classical frameworks and conceptualizations from prior decades. However, this consideration may be problematic, since large-scale changes in companies’ operating environments, such as digitalization, a crisis in sustainability, as well as reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic through remote-working initiatives. Consequently, call for new knowledge resources comes into play naturally. In this paper, an argument is made that the normative approaches for conceptualizing IC and its performance relevance must be updated. Further, we suggest that the new post-pandemic world of enterprise calls for novel understandings relevant to IC. To spur new thinking that offers a way forward, a theoretical model is proposed for a revised understanding of IC and its role in organizational viability. Important new issues are examined as related to various IC elements. The paper contributes to IC research by constructing a revised model of IC useful for generating topical research models suitable for development and testing in future theoretical and empirical studies. A set of potential research questions is outlined to guide additional research. Keywords: Intellectual capital, performance, theory, future, digitalization, remote work 1. Introduction Worklife as we know it is facing fundamental transformations. The spread of Covid-19 has brought a major challenge to companies that have already been facing globalization, sustainability and environmental uncertainty. Companies not only needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 through organizational isolation, but they also have to find effective ways to maintain optimal performance. Remote work was found to be a good way to achieve both of these goals during the pandemic (Liu et al, 2021). Given that there are more than three billion Internet users in the world, along with increasing numbers using digital technologies to work “remotely” (Donnelly and Johns, 2021), the need for workers to adopt skill sets to meet the requirements of digitalization for future jobs (Habraken and Bondarouk, 2017), the rise of crowd- sourcing platforms and co-creative networks for innovation and prosperity, leads to the immediate main inquiry of this paper: “Do we need to redefine knowledge-based resources that contribute to organizational value- added process and consequently to re-conceptualize intellectual capital (IC) framework?” IC theory, which asserts that organizational value is for the most part created with intangible, knowledge-based resources, has become a prevalent way to approach the notion of business viability. Most IC research leans on the classical tripod of IC components, laid down by the first-generation researchers in the field (e.g. Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Sveiby, 1997; Roos et al, 1997; Bontis, 2002). This tripod divides the value-generating knowledge assets into human capital, structural capital and relational capital; or, more simply put the value vested in an organization’s personnel, internal structures and processes, and relationships. Even though this conceptualization has been challenged by some (e.g. Inkinen et al, 2017; Cabrilo and Dahms, 2020) it still remains the cornerstone of the intellectual capital-based view of the firm, and it is astutely followed by most researchers in this field. Because research is a strongly path-dependent activity, it is natural that IC research leans on classical frameworks and conceptualizations, whereby most IC studies adhere closely to the classical conceptualizations of IC components. However, this modality may be problematic, since large-scale changes in companies’ operating environments and worklife have called for new knowledge resources. Thus, it is necessary to rethink the nature and content of IC along with novel theorizing of IC paradigms. The aim of this paper is to put forward generalized propositions as provocations for both debate and future research impetus, which are likely to shed further light on the revised concept of IC and its performance effects in the digital economy and the post-pandemic work-place. 611 Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on Knowledge Management, ECKM 2022