The role of intellectual capital and women managers in the internationalization-performance relationship: An analysis of Spanish hotel firms

Many research studies have separately addressed the relationships between internationalization and firm performance, and between Intellectual Capital (IC) and firm performance. The three-way relationship between internationalization, IC and performance has received less attention. However, internationalization allows firms to increase knowledge that can be transformed into IC and contribute to increased firm performance. From the knowledge-based view of the firm, this paper considers IC as a mediating variable in the internationalization-performance relationship. According to this view, knowledge management is key to the development of IC and firm performance. The presence of women in management positions is also analyzed as a moderating variable in this relationship. Increasingly, gender diversity in management teams is associated with both greater growth orientation and higher corporate performance. The results obtained confirm that IC mediates the relationship between internationalization and performance and that the presence of women in management strengthens this relationship.