The Strategic Role of Innovative Capabilities in the Relationship among Social Capital, Knowledge Sharing and Firm Performance

To explore the relationships among social capital, innovative capabilities, knowledge sharing and firm performance, Chinese enterprises participated in this investigation. We found that social capital influenced innovative capabilities, while innovative capabilities influenced knowledge sharing and firm performance positively. Besides, knowledge sharing influenced firm performance positively. And social capital also had a direct influence on knowledge sharing. As anticipated, the intervening effect of innovative capabilities between social capital and knowledge sharing and firm performance was significant. Implications, limitations and future research directions for the study are discussed.