Developing social capital for facilitating knowledge management practices

Purpose – This study seeks to explore the effect of social capital (SC) on knowledge management (KM) practices. The main problem under investigation is to assess the importance of SC within an organization and to ascertain how it can ensure that knowledge activities would continue to be fitting and proper in the organization. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the notion that certain factors can affect knowledge management, this paper examines the effect of the various aspects of social capital on the knowledge management practices. The research method is descriptive and correlational. The population of the research consists of managers and senior experts of NIOPDC (National Iran Oil Product Distribution Co). A sample of 273 subjects was selected using statistical sampling. Data were collected through questionnaire consisting of 25 questions. Findings – The study has found that there are meaningful relationships between all of the dimensions of SC and KM practices. They can also facilitate knowledge management practices. The findings further suggest that among various dimensions of SC, trust has the most influential effect on KM practices. Research limitations/implications – In spite of lacking considerable empirical research investigating the correlations between KM and SC, this research not only extends the understanding of the effect of SC on KM, but also the interrelationship between various aspects of SC and their joint effects on knowledge management practices. Originality/value – Existing research has concentrated on studying the effect of SC on KM, by and large. There is little empirical research investigating the correlations between KM and SC. This paper addresses this gap and contributes understanding of how organizations can promote the effectiveness of KM practices through developing their social capital.