Do different genders' knowledge sharing behaviors drive different innovative behavior? The moderating effect of social capital

Abstract

Purpose: Considering the importance of innovation in organizations and the formation of innovative behaviors (IBs) in the life of the organization, the authors study the effect of moderating social capital (SC) and gender in the link between knowledge sharing (KS), including sharing best practices and sharing mistakes with IB.Design/methodology/approach: In this research, a random sampling method was used. A questionnaire was completed by 310 employees working in five prestigious companies in the energy sector located in Mashhad province, Iran.Findings: The findings of the research indicate the influence of KS on IB. Also, SC moderates the effect of KS on IB. However, the moderating effect of gender was not significant, sharing best practices more likely to lead IB in women. Moreover, the men are more likely to show IB as they share their mistakes in comparison with women.Originality/value: This research aims to break the black box on the link between employee KS and his/her own innovativeness, which is not frequently investigated. To the authors' best knowledge, there is a lack of deep empirical study that has delved into analyzing the impact of gender-groups and SC on this relation.