Internet's Affects on the Human and Communicational Capitals of the Faculty Members and the PhD and MA Students in Universities

Internet and other modern communication technologies have affected all aspects of the gathering, combining, and transforming knowledge, especially in scientific-educational and research organizations. These processes are parts of the whole intellectual capital in any organization. Intellectual capital is the hidden and intangible property which is oriented toward organizational goals. In the present study, I attempt to reflect on the affects internet has on some particular dimensions of intellectual capital, namely the human and the communicational, in Iran’s universities. According to the theoretical basis, it is shown that internet usage is an important factor in developing organizational intellectual capital (here, in the universities). Results show that human and communicational capitals are differently distributed in various universities. On the other hand, internet accessibility and consumption (type and quantity), as the independent variables of the study, have meaningful affects on human and communicational capitals in all universities. Furthermore, it is noteworthy to say that there are some other factors, as the ranking of the university, department, educational level (for students), and degree (for faculty members), and gender, which intervene in the process. Results show that internet usage, besides other factors as age, gender, marital status, could guide in explanation of the human and communicational capitals’ changes in the universities.