Small and medium enterprises due to their smaller size and resources face numerous\nchallenges to sustain themselves. In the face of mounting pressures from the competitors,\nSMEs need to position themselves in such a way so as to cater for the changing customer\nneeds and expectations of their customers. To achieve this, developing the internal knowledge\nand knowing capabilities becomes imperative. The present study is an attempt to investigate\nthe role of intellectual capital towards sustainability. Sample consisted of SMEs selected from\nthe database of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Self-administered questionnaires\nwere distributed to 335 respondents with a response rate of 51%. The results of the study\nindicate that intellectual capital is having a significant relationship as well as influence on\nsustainability of SMEs. Further, multiple regression results reveal that knowledge and\ninnovativeness dimensions of intellectual capital are more influential in creating\nsustainability for small enterprises. However, employee competences, intellectual agility and\nskills have been found to insignificant in Malaysian context. The results reveal that if\nintellectual capital of the employees is not optimally harnessed, it would lead to failure. The\nstudy is significant not only for the owners/managers of SMEs but also for the policy makers.\nFuture directions are also provided for researchers interested in the area.
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