Intellectual Capital Architectures and Bilateral Learning: A Framework For Human Resource Management

Both researchers and managers are increasingly interested in how firms can pursue bilateral learning; that is, simultaneously exploring new knowledge domains while exploiting current ones (cf., March, 1991). To address this issue, this paper introduces a framework of intellectual capital architectures that combine unique configurations of human, social, and organizational capital. These architectures support bilateral learning by helping to create supplementary alignment between human and social capital as well as complementary alignment between people-embodied knowledge (human and social capital) and organization-embodied knowledge (organizational capital). In order to establish the context for bilateral learning, the framework also identifies unique sets of HR practices that may influence the combinations of human, social, and organizational capital

Social capital and knowledge in interorganizational networks: Their joint effect on innovation

This research analyzes the effects of interorganizational links on innovation using a comprehensive framework that integrates three research streams: social capital, knowledge based view and innovation. Using data from 143 R&D and/or marketing departments of innovative manufacturing and service companies, our results show that while knowledge complexity, per se, exerts a clear influence on the degree of innovations radicalness, the effect of knowledge tacitness appears only when it is combined with social capital. Similarly, the mere existence of strong cooperation agreements (relational social capital) does not guarantee more radical innovations. It is only when this social capital is combined with tacit knowledge that it really produces more innovative products. We also find that such radical products have an important impact on firm performance.: Innovation; radicalness; social capital; knowledge complexity; knowledge tacitness; firm performance

Knowledge flow across inter-firm networks: the influence of network resources, spatial proximity, and firm size

The objective of this paper is to analyze the characteristics and nature of the networks firms utilize to access knowledge and facilitate innovation. The paper draws on the notion of network resources, distinguishing two types: social capital – consisting of the social relations and networks held by individuals; and network capital – consisting of the strategic and calculative relations and networks held by firms. The methodological approach consists of a quantitative analysis of data from a survey of firms operating in knowledge-intensive sectors of activity. The key findings include: social capital investment is more prevalent among firms frequently interacting with actors from within their own region; social capital investment is related to the size of firms; firm size plays a role in knowledge network patterns; and network dynamism is an important source of innovation. Overall, firms investing more in the development of their inter-firm and other external knowledge networks enjoy higher levels of innovation. It is suggested that an over-reliance on social capital forms of network resource investment may hinder the capability of firms to manage their knowledge networks. It is concluded that the link between a dynamic inter-firm network environment and innovation provides an alternative thesis to that advocating the advantage of network stability

Does social capital reinforce technological inputs in the creation of knowledge? Evidence from the Spanish regions.

In this paper we seek to verify the hypothesis that trust and cooperation between individuals, and between them and public institutions, can encourage technological innovation and the adoption of knowledge. Additionally, we test the extent to which the interaction of social capital with human capital and R&D expenditures improve their effect on a region’s ability to innovate. Our empirical evidence is taken from the Spanish regions and employs a knowledge production function and longitudinal count data models. Our results suggest that social capital correlates positively with innovation. Further, our analysis reveals a powerful interaction between human and social capital in the production of knowledge, whilst the complementarity with R&D efforts would seem less clear.social capital, human capital, innovation, complementarities.

Editor's Introduction: Scientific and Technical Human Capital

Human capital and social networks are the two pillars supporting scientists' and engineers' ability to contribute knowledge. Throughout their careers, scientists seek to enhance both. Human capital endowments include not only formal education and its representation in credentials but the actual scientific and technical knowledge, craft knowledge and technical skills. In science and technology the deploying of human capital in the production of scientific and technical knowledge is intensely and inevitably social. Science cannot be understood in purely cognitive terms. Social mechanisms undergird not only the production of knowledge but its distribution and use. Scientific and technical journals and conferences are social institutions, as well as intellectual property protections, grants and awards, job placement and career transitions which are governed by social institutions. Social networks are the means by which scientists and engineers traverse social institutions. Indeed, scientists and engineers are as dependent upon social networks as they are upon such tangible scientific tools as electron microscopes, supercomputers and synchrotrons. Research policy and management scholars have long recognized the importance of scientists' and engineers' human capital endowments and their social networks. It is surprising, though, how rarely the two are viewed as part and parcel of a single bundle

Omnivorousness in sport: The importance of social capital and networks

There has been for some time a significant and growing body of research around the relationship between sport and social capital. Similarly, within sociology there has been a corpus of work that has acknowledged the emergence of the omnivore–univore relationship. Surprisingly, relatively few studies examining sport and social capital have taken the omnivore–univore framework as a basis for understanding the relationship between sport and social capital. This gap in the sociology of sport literature and knowledge is rectified by this study that takes not Putnam, Coleman or Bourdieu, but Lin’s social network approach to social capital. The implications of this article are that researchers investigating sport and social capital need to understand more about how social networks and places for sport work to create social capital and, in particular, influence participating in sporting activities. The results indicate that social networks both facilitate and constrain sports participation; whilst family and friendship networks are central in active lifestyles, those who are less active have limited networks

Localized Learning and Social Capital The Geography Effect in Technological and Institutional Dynamics

Providing a concise working definition of social capital, this conceptual paper analyses why social capital is important for learning and economic development, why it has a regional dimension, and how it is created. It argues that with the rise of the Knowledge Economy, social capital is becoming valuable because it organizes markets, lowering business firms’ costs of coordinating and allowing them to flexibly connect and reconnect. Thus, it serves as a social framework for localized learning in both breadth and depth. The paper suggests that a range of social phenomena such as altruism, trust, participation, and inclusion, are created when a matrix of various social relations is combined with particular normative and cognitive social institutions that facilitate cooperation and reciprocity. Such a matrix of social relations, plus facilitating institutions, is what the paper defines as “social capital”. The paper further suggests that social capital is formed at the regional (rather than national or international) level, because it is at this level we find the densest matrices of social relations. The paper also offers a discussion of how regional policies may be suited for promoting social capital.Social capital, knowledge economy, regional dimension

A Matter of Location: The Role of Regional Social Capital in Overcoming the Liability of Newness in R&D Acquisition Activities

External knowledge acquisition represents a precondition for firms’ competitive advantage. However, young firms find it particularly difficult to gain access to external sources of knowledge: young firms suffer from a liability of newness by exhibiting significantly lower propensities to invest in external R&D than their older counterparts. We explore the role of geographically bound social capital in moderating this liability. By employing a Nested Logit approach, our findings show that geographically bound social capital moderates the liability of newness related to R&D acquisition, suggesting that the liability exists only in regions associated with low levels of social capital.Research and development; social capital; liability of newness; geography

Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources

The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of the factors influencing participants’ knowledge-sharing in an electronic network of practice. The study builds on a theoretical framework derived from the theory of reasoned action and theories of social capital and social exchange. A model of knowledge sharing in an electronic network of practice has been developed based on this framework, which attempts to integrate factors validated through recent empirical studies (Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Wasko and Faraj, 2005; Bock et al., 2005). The model that considers the factors influencing the knowledge contributor and the knowledge seeker has been empirically tested using a survey in the Financial Management Community of Practice (COP) in the USAF Portal. Figure 1 shows the research model adopted for the study, which incorporates constructs from social exchange theory and social capital theory. Data were collected from members of the Financial Management (FM) Communities of Practice (COP) on the AF portal. Partial least squares (PLS) was chosen as the structural equation analysis method to the test the hypotheses. The study demonstrated that experience in the profession influenced the amount of contribution, but that self-rated expertise did not. The findings indicate that relational capital may not be as important to usage, but it is strongly related to the intention to share knowledge. The study also indicated that commitment to the community of practice was not a factor in knowledge contribution. Concerning anticipated extrinsic benefits, the results show that individuals are not motivated by these types of rewards whether monetary in nature or reputation-based. The hypothesis regarding the sense of self-worth through the intention to share knowledge was not supported. Secondly, the results showed that the anticipated loss of knowledge power that occurs when an individual shares personal knowledge, did not influence an individual’s intention to share knowledge in the COP. Finally, an individual’s codification effort indicated only a relationship with number of messages posted. The results provide some evidence that cognitive social capital influences intention to share knowledge.knowledge-sharing, cognitive social capital