The configuration of strategic human capital in innovative teams and competitive advantages of firms: The moderating role of team spirit

This paper studies the basic configuration of strategic human capital in innovative (R&D) teams and explores the relationship between strategic human capital and firm competitive advantages. Based on theories of human capital and the resource-based view of firms (RBV), and by using team spirit and human-capital deployment as moderating variables, the study surveys 218 high-tech SMEs in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region with questionnaire and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the configuration of strategic human capital in innovative teams mainly includes: knowledge, professional skills, innovative ability, and team exclusiveness; strategic human capital of innovative teams accelerates firms' competitive advantages; team spirit has positive moderating effects on the relationship between strategic human capital and firms' competitive advantages, while the human-capital deployment has no significant adjusting effects. The study shows that, in today's “Big Science” era, through the cultivation of team spirit, strategic human capital in innovative teams can better promote a firm's competitive advantages, it also provides an perspective examination on how strategic human capital affects firms' competitive advantages as well.