Literature on knowledge sharing that involves social capital factors
| Authors | Context | Method (sample size) | Social capital typology | Research findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasko and Faraj (2005) | Electronic network for a professional legal association | System log data and survey (173) | Structural capital: centrality Relational capital: commitment and reciprocity Cognitive capital: self-rated expertise and tenure in the field | Centrality positively influences the helpfulness of knowledge sharing and the volume of knowledge shared. Tenure in the field has a positive effect on the knowledge volume. Commitment correlates negatively with helpfulness in knowledge sharing. Reciprocity has a negative impact on the volume of knowledge shared |
| Chiu et al. (2006) | IT-oriented virtual community | Survey (310) | Structural capital: social interaction ties Relational capital: trust, norms of reciprocity and identification Cognitive capital: shared vision and shared language | Social interaction ties, reciprocity, and identification affect the amount of knowledge sharing. Shared language, shared vision and trust affect the quality of knowledge sharing. Shared language has a negative impact on the amount of knowledge sharing |
| Wiertz and de Ruyter (2007) | Firm-hosted commercial online communities | Survey and objective data (203) | Relational capital: reciprocity, commitment to community and commitment to host firm | Reciprocity does not affect knowledge sharing's quality or quantity. Commitment to the community exerts a positive effect on its quality and quantity. Commitment to the host firm does not affect either the quality or the quantity of knowledge-sharing significantly |
| Chow and Chan (2008) | Firms in Hong Kong | Survey (190) | Structural capital: social network Relational capital: social trust Cognitive capital: shared goals | The social network and shared goals are positively related to both attitudes toward knowledge sharing and subjective norms related to knowledge sharing |
| Chai et al. (2011) | Blog site | Survey (446) | Structural capital: social ties Relational capital: trust and reciprocity | Social ties, trust and reciprocity have positive effects on knowledge sharing |
| Chang and Chuang (2011) | Virtual community | Survey (282) | Structural capital: social interaction Relational capital: trust, identification and reciprocity Cognitive capital: shared language | Identification, reciprocity and shared language affect the quality and quantity of knowledge sharing positively. Social interaction and trust affect the quality of knowledge sharing |
| Hau and Kim (2011) | Online game community | Survey (1244) | Structural capital: social ties Relational capital: social trust Cognitive capital: shared goals | Social goals influence the attitudes and subjective norms connected with knowledge sharing. Social trust has a positive influence on the intention to share knowledge. Social ties and shared goals have positive impacts on social trust |
| Lu and Yang (2011) | Virtual communities | Survey (475) | Structural capital: social interaction ties Relational capital: trust, norms of reciprocity and identification Cognitive capital: shared vision and shared language | Structural capital increases information quantity, while relational capital and cognitive capital affect information quality positively. Structural capital influences cognitive capital also, which, in turn, has a significant influence on relational capital |
| Chang et al. (2012) | Medical center in Taiwan | Survey (797) | Structural capital: social interaction Relational capital: trust Cognitive capital: shared vision | Trust and shared vision have positive effects on knowledge sharing |
| Nov et al. (2012) | Flickr | System log data and survey (269) | Structural capital: log-groups Relational capital: log-contacts Cognitive capital: log-years | Structural capital and relational capital exert positive influences on meta-knowledge sharing |
| Hau et al. (2013) | Employees of firms | Survey (2010) | Structural capital: social ties Relational capital: social trust Cognitive capital: social goals | Social capital has positive effects on sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge both, showing a stronger impact on sharing of tacit knowledge than on explicit knowledge sharing |
| Yu et al. (2013) | Knowledge-intensive work teams | Survey (343) | Team-level Structural capital: network density Relational capital: norms of cooperation Cognitive capital: cognition commonality Individual-level Structural capital: betweenness centrality Relational capital: affective commitment Cognitive capital: shared cognition | On the team level, network density has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with both explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Cognition commonality shows a marginally negative impact on sharing of tacit knowledge. Cooperative norms have a negative impact on explicit knowledge sharing At the level of the individual, betweenness centrality has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with both tacit and explicit sharing of knowledge. Shared cognition and affective commitment correlate positively with sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge |
| Zhao et al. (2016) | Specialized OHCs in US | Survey (265) | Structural capital: network density Relational capital: trust Cognitive capital: shared language | Network density positively affects both externalization and combination in knowledge creation. Trust and shared language are positively associated with network density |
| Zhang et al. (2017a) | Health Q&A communities | Survey (363) | Structural capital: network density Relational capital: trust Cognitive capital: shared language | Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations mediate the path between social capital and intentions of knowledge sharing |
| Mojdeh et al. (2018) | Social networking sites | Survey (329) | Relational capital: identification and reciprocity | Identification has a significant positive effect on attitudes to SNS-connected knowledge sharing, while reciprocity's impact on attitudes to knowledge sharing is only marginally significant User anonymity has a positive influence on both identification and reciprocity Community type has a significant correlation with identification |
| Zhou (2019) | General OHCs in China | Survey (312) | Structural capital: social interaction ties Relational capital: trust and identification Cognitive capital: shared language | Social interaction ties and trust have no significant influences on knowledge contribution. Identification and shared language significantly affect knowledge contribution |
| Authors | Context | Method (sample size) | Social capital typology | Research findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic network for a professional legal association | System log data and survey (173) | Structural capital: centrality | Centrality positively influences the helpfulness of knowledge sharing and the volume of knowledge shared. Tenure in the field has a positive effect on the knowledge volume. Commitment correlates negatively with helpfulness in knowledge sharing. Reciprocity has a negative impact on the volume of knowledge shared | |
| IT-oriented virtual community | Survey (310) | Structural capital: social interaction ties | Social interaction ties, reciprocity, and identification affect the amount of knowledge sharing. Shared language, shared vision and trust affect the quality of knowledge sharing. Shared language has a negative impact on the amount of knowledge sharing | |
| Firm-hosted commercial online communities | Survey and objective data (203) | Relational capital: reciprocity, commitment to community and commitment to host firm | Reciprocity does not affect knowledge sharing's quality or quantity. Commitment to the community exerts a positive effect on its quality and quantity. Commitment to the host firm does not affect either the quality or the quantity of knowledge-sharing significantly | |
| Firms in Hong Kong | Survey (190) | Structural capital: social network | The social network and shared goals are positively related to both attitudes toward knowledge sharing and subjective norms related to knowledge sharing | |
| Blog site | Survey (446) | Structural capital: social ties | Social ties, trust and reciprocity have positive effects on knowledge sharing | |
| Virtual community | Survey (282) | Structural capital: social interaction | Identification, reciprocity and shared language affect the quality and quantity of knowledge sharing positively. Social interaction and trust affect the quality of knowledge sharing | |
| Online game community | Survey (1244) | Structural capital: social ties | Social goals influence the attitudes and subjective norms connected with knowledge sharing. Social trust has a positive influence on the intention to share knowledge. Social ties and shared goals have positive impacts on social trust | |
| Virtual communities | Survey (475) | Structural capital: social interaction ties | Structural capital increases information quantity, while relational capital and cognitive capital affect information quality positively. Structural capital influences cognitive capital also, which, in turn, has a significant influence on relational capital | |
| Medical center in Taiwan | Survey (797) | Structural capital: social interaction | Trust and shared vision have positive effects on knowledge sharing | |
| Flickr | System log data and survey (269) | Structural capital: log-groups | Structural capital and relational capital exert positive influences on meta-knowledge sharing | |
| Employees of firms | Survey (2010) | Structural capital: social ties | Social capital has positive effects on sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge both, showing a stronger impact on sharing of tacit knowledge than on explicit knowledge sharing | |
| Knowledge-intensive work teams | Survey (343) | On the team level, network density has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with both explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Cognition commonality shows a marginally negative impact on sharing of tacit knowledge. Cooperative norms have a negative impact on explicit knowledge sharing | ||
| Specialized OHCs in US | Survey (265) | Structural capital: network density | Network density positively affects both externalization and combination in knowledge creation. Trust and shared language are positively associated with network density | |
| Health | Survey (363) | Structural capital: network density | Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations mediate the path between social capital and intentions of knowledge sharing | |
| Social networking sites | Survey (329) | Relational capital: identification and reciprocity | Identification has a significant positive effect on attitudes to SNS-connected knowledge sharing, while reciprocity's impact on attitudes to knowledge sharing is only marginally significant | |
| General OHCs in China | Survey (312) | Structural capital: social interaction ties | Social interaction ties and trust have no significant influences on knowledge contribution. Identification and shared language significantly affect knowledge contribution |
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