From knowledge to wisdom: the case of corporate governance in Islamic banking

摘要

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define and explore the concepts and relationships between intellectual capital, knowledge, wisdom and corporate responsibility in the context of the corporate governance of Islamic financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an adaptation of the Nicholson and Kiel intellectual capital model of the board of directors including the role of the Shari'a Supervisory Board (SSB). It is driven by the following research questions: how does the SSB add value to the corporate governance model of IFIs through their intellectual capital? Is there any value in replicating the IFIs structure in western conventional banks and, if yes, how could it be done without the religious and cultural impacts?Findings – It was only recently that one entered the knowledge economic era and organizations are slowly realizing the need and the benefits not only of managing knowledge better, but also of managing it in a wiser way. The concepts and values carried by Islamic banking and by social responsible investments have a lot in common and they both tend to bring wisdom to the organization's operations and goals.