Total quality management and high-performance work systems for social capital development

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse social capital (SC) development oriented to innovation. The relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and total quality management (TQM) philosophy is considered in this paper as an enabling factor that allows firms to accumulate SC oriented to develop radical and incremental innovation capabilities (IIC). Design/methodology/approach This paper establishes hypotheses and a model based on partial and total mediating effects of SC to develop innovation capabilities, which are focused on previous unexplored connections between HPWS and TQM and their effects on SC. The model and hypotheses are statistically tested through a partial least squares approach to structural equations models in a multi-industry sample of Spanish companies. Findings The study results show a system of specific human resource practices connected to SC development. Moreover, SC is found to be a mediating factor in the relationship between TQM and IIC, although the effect is not significant when radical innovation capabilities (RIC) are considered in the model. Finally, it is shown that HPWS partially mediates the relationship between TQM and SC. Research limitations/implications This paper mainly contributes to the study of organizational context enablers for intellectual capital (IC) development from a knowledge-based view, especially when firms are seeking to build or improve innovation capabilities. As a managerial approach, HPWSs and TQM are shown as powerful tools to establish prolific contexts for SC development, especially when TQM is rightly supported by a HPWS. Originality/value This is a quantitative study that analyses, for the first time, predictive relationships between popular tools such as TQM and HPWSs to create an organizational context for SC development, considering a multi-industry sample of firms. Important implications are also drawn to help managers to create IC assets related to social interaction and network relationships.

Social capital, employees' well-being and knowledge sharing: does enterprise social networks use matter? Case of Tunisian knowledge-intensive firms

“…In particular, SC is a key resource that contributes to firms' success and competitive advantage (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Bueno et al , 2004; Asiaei et al , 2018). It is defined as the different resources that individuals or a group possess and have acquired from solid relational networks (Donate et al , 2019; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). It represents the norms and the networks that shape collective action.…”

Social capital, knowledge sharing, work meaningfulness and creativity: evidence from the Pakistani pharmaceutical industry

“…Although some researchers have used IC as an integrated construct, others have stressed the need to study the impact of the individual components of IC and explore their impact on creativity and innovation in depth (Cabello-Medina et al, 2011;Ting et al, 2020). Particularly, SC received a growing interest for its potentiality to build creativity and innovative capabilities (Donate et al, 2020) through extensive access to knowledge based on the underlying processes of acquisition, assimilation and sharing in healthcare sector (Pucci et al, 2020).…”

Selected Determinants of Innovation Potential in the Agricultural Sector in the Visegrad Countries

“…In addition, in the years 2012-2018 no improvement in this regard is visible among respondents from Poland. Trust is a key component of social capital and thus one of the most important generators of further growth, as indicated by researchers analysing the impact of soft factors on the socio-economic growth (inter alia, Tóth, 2013;Donate, Ruiz, Sanchez de Pablo and García-Pardo, 2019;Serageldin and Dasgupta 2001;Serageldin and Grootaert, 2001;Pająk, 2001). The empirical studies conducted on a group of 56 countries, including Poland, and quoted by Czapiński (2010) also confirm a positive relationship between social capital and the level of economic development.…”