摘要：With the changes in the business environment, intangible assets, potentially generated by the intellectual capital, have become more relevant. This study aimed to analyze and test the applicability of an alternative business performance metric: profit per employee (PE). An exploratory research was conducted through case studies of three companies listed in BM&FBOVESPA in the period 2006-2009. From the firms’ financial reports, firms' performance were measured using ROA, ROE, and the PE. Share prices were used as proxy for value creation. An empirical study showed that the correlation between PE and share prices was higher and more significant than the correlation with traditional metrics for the firm most intensive in intellectual capital. For the other firms, traditional metrics presented higher correlation. Hence, the PE seems to be relevant for companies intensive on intellectual capital. This finding highlights that this business performance metric, which includes the effect of the intellectual workforce, is an important contribution to the literature on intangibles.
