Purpose
This paper aims to consider the role and influence of social capital (SC) on knowledge management (KM) and sets out to develop an understanding of the importance of the impact of the cross-cultural environment on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
According to the notion, in this study, the relationship between two essential aspects in management and business, SC on KM practices, has been analyzed. By applying a descriptive and correlational method, the impact of various dimensions of SC on KM in a cross-cultural setting has been investigated, and required data has been obtained through questionnaires consist of 30 items, which is prepared for a sample of 232 people.
Findings
Although the findings are varied, the results indicated that there is an important relationship between SC dimensions and KM in the research environment, which is cross-cultural.
Research limitations/implications
First, as the data derived from different branches of a big company in Iran, its results cannot be easily extended to other contexts. Therefore, future streams of research can expand the scope of this paper into other contexts with different characteristics. Moreover, the sample of this paper is taken from different communities (branches) which increase the variety of personality features in distinct cultures. Thus, further research can stress a particular organization/ branch to avoid the problem of cultural variation and focus on a more homogenous sample. Finally, this study targeted a big organization in the IT sector. However, future studies can investigate another type of firm (e.g. small and medium firms) in different sectors (e.g. manufacturing, food sector, etc.).
Practical implications
In this research, using scientific and practical methods, the impacts have been examined carefully and deliberately to assist the managers of organizations in theoretically and managerially as these outcomes contribute to the development of a new concept called cross-cultural in knowledge management and social capital, and support organizations to cope with the implications of this concept.
Originality/value
There is not much empirical research on cross-cultural settings and its effects on management, finance and business, especially on correlations between KM and SC. This investigation tries to fill this gap and explain the ways, which companies can use SC for enhancing their effectiveness of KM by considering culture diversity impacts.
PurposeThe experience of successful firms has proven that one of the most important ways to promote co-learning and create successful networked innovations is the proper application of inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms. This study aims to use a resource-action-performance framework to open the black box on the relationship between networking capability and innovation performance. The research population embraces companies in the Iranian automotive industry.Design/methodology/approachDue to the latent nature of the variables studied, the required data are collected through a web-based cross-sectional survey. First, the content validity of the measurement tool is evaluated by experts. Then, a pre-test is conducted to assess the reliability of the measurement tool. All data are gathered by the Iranian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (IVMA) and Iranian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association (IAPMA) samples. The power analysis method and G*Power software are used to determine the sample size. Moreover, SmartPLS 3 and IBM SPSS 25 software are used for data analysis of the conceptual model and relating hypotheses.FindingsThe results of this study indicated that the relationships between networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms and inter-organizational learning result in a self-reinforcing loop, with a marked impact on firm innovation performance.Originality/valueSince there is little understanding of the interdependencies of networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms, co-learning and their effect on firm innovation performance, most previous research studies have focused on only one or two of the above-mentioned variables. Thus, their cumulative effect has not examined yet. Looking at inter-organizational relationships from a network perspective and knowledge-based view (KBV), and to consider the simultaneous effect of knowledge mechanisms and learning as intermediary actions alongside, to consider the performance effect of the capability-building process, are the main advantages of this research.
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