The Effects Of Intellectual Capital On The Performance Of Cruise Lines Companies

With the development of science and technology,and the globalization of economy,the external environment in which enterprises are located is changing with each passing day.The economic form of the 21 st century is a knowledge-based economic form that is constantly developing and innovating.If companies want to gain a foothold in the increasingly fierce competition and gain a strategic advantage,they should not only pay attention to the material resources they own,but also pay attention to their intangible resources that are constantly innovating.As an entirely new production factor,intangible resources represented by intellectual capital are the most valuable assets and the most powerful competitive weapons.Therefore,the development and utilization of intellectual capital has become a key component for enterprises to achieve long-term development and gain competitive advantage.After more than 50 years of development,modern cruise lines companies in world have gradually evolved into a large and mature industry.The cruise lines companies are the most important part of the entire cruise industry chain and contribute a lot to the development of the whole cruise lines economy.As an organization of the cruise economy,the stable and orderly operation of the cruise lines company can drive the health and sustainable development of the cruise industry.As a unique production factor within the company,intellectual capital can create huge value added for the cruise company,which helps the cruise company to stand out among the many competitors and gain a sustainable competitive advantage.However,academic research on intellectual capital in the past has focused on knowledge-intensive industry such as high-tech companies.For a travel service company such as cruise lines companies,how should intellectual capital be defined? How should the cruise company’s business performance be evaluated? Does intellectual capital have any impact on the operating performance of cruise lines companies? If so,what is the impact? How should different cruise lines companies explore and utilize their own intellectual resources? Based on the above questions,the research questions in this paper are as follows:Firstly,by fully reading the relevant literature and combing the research conclusions that intellectual capital affects corporate performance,it is concluded that an important factor affecting business performance is intellectual capital.For cruise lines companies,intellectual capital also affects the financial status and operating results of the cruise industry.Secondly,according to the relevant theories about cruise and cruise economy,and combining the actual operating conditions of cruise lines companies,the research built an appropriate performance evaluation system.This paper used the method of financial analysis to objectively evaluate the operating performance of cruise lines operators.At the same time,this research reasonably definesd the composition of the intellectual capital of the cruise lines company and analyzed the specific content of each component.On this basis,the explanatory variables,interpreted variables and control variables of the research model were established.Thirdly,the impact of intellectual capital on the performance of cruise lines companies was the main line of research.The global listed cruise companies were selected as research objects.Among them,foreign cruise lines companies included: Carnival Corporation&plc,Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.,Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.Domestic cruise companies included: Damei Cruise lines company and Bohai Ferries.This research used SPSS statistical software to analyze the impact of intellectual capital on business performance.Through the construction of multiple regression models,empirical analysis and research hypothesis was completed.Fourthly,based on the results of empirical research and combined with the goal of continuously improving the operating performance of cruise operators,the recommendations and strategies for the development and management of intellectual capital by cruise operators are proposed.Specific management and improvement measures are proposed for the constituent elements of intellectual capital to help domestic cruise companies continue to grow and develop in the Chinese market,compete with mature foreign cruise companies,seize market share,and achieve high-speed,high-quality and efficient development.Combining theoretical analysis with empirical analysis,this paper summarizes the following four important conclusions:Firstly,on the basis of fully reading the relevant literature,combined with the organization structure and operation mode of the cruise company,this paper divides the intellectual capital of the cruise lines company into three parts: human capital,structural capital and relationshiop capital.Secondly,after conducting a comprehensive financial analysis of different cruise companies,it was concluded that the Carnival Corporation&plc mainly relied on the owner to invest in capital management,and the debt level was relatively low.It did not bring much leverage benefit.This cruise lines company with conservative strategy had strong solvency and low operating risk.Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.And Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.were radical strategic companies.At the same time,by establishing a performance research system suitable for cruise lines companies,this paper selected the comprehensive index of Return on Equity to measure the operating efficiency of cruise lines companies.Thirdly,through the analysis of the results of empirical research,it can be seen that the intellectual capital of the cruise lines companies was positively affecting the companies’ s operating performance.The three dimensions of intellectual capital,including human capital,structural capital,and relational capital,had a significant positive correlation with the performance of cruise lines companies.The relationship capital had the greatest impact on business performance.Fourthly,cruise lines companies should pay attention to the investment and management of intellectual capital and build a scientific intellectual capital evaluation system.Cruise companies should increase the development and management of human resources,foster a unique brand culture,render an innovative corporate atmosphere,build a rational internal operational process,strengthen communication and cooperation with stakeholders,and improve the management of external relationships and internal relationships system.