From Values to Value: a Case Study about managing IC from Italian Public Utilities

The paper investigates on the driving role of Intellectual Capital (IC), emerging through the ongoing change in managerial approach in the public sector. Drawing upon data collected from a case study of a public utility operating in the local transport, we intend to analyze the virtuous path that leads from values to value, focusing the attention on the centrality of the soft dimension of human behavior (values) in improving the organization’s performance (value). The case study allowed us to highlight how in a few years it was possible to design and to put in action a strategic plan, on the three pillars of IC – human, structural and relational capital. The public utility investigated, previously the managerial change, was characterized by a deep lack of awareness about its intrinsic capability to face the challenge coming from the solicitation for rationality, which is at present determining the new scenario in the whole public sector. Our research offers a contribution to the scientific debate on the relevance of Intellectual Capital in the public sector, giving evidence of good practices that can be developed in other similar contexts and supporting theoretical background and further advancement in managerial tools. We have also detected the relevant role of the system of internal control and the implications of that system in the accountability path. Internal control plays a key function in management of intangible assets and then in pursuing better performance results, also in terms of public value.