Impact of social capital and knowledge sharing behavior on innovation climate

As sustainable competitive advantage has gained ever-increasing importance today, innovation is regarded as the vital means to providing and sustaining this advantage. Innovation inside the organization can be accomplished through the participation of all individuals and units. This can be realized with organizational climate that promotes innovation. In order for this climate to be established, social capital encompassing such factors as trust, norms, shared language and stories, and embedded within relations along with knowledge sharing are of vital importance. In this study, the effects of social capital and tacit knowledge sharing behavior on innovation climate in hospitals as the main enterprice of health sector are investigated. To this end, the data from the questionnaire responded by 398 personnel in two public and two private hospitals in Kütahya which is going through a process of rapid change and development have been analyzed. All the variables in the study have been analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling. The results of the study showed that social capital affects tacit knowledge sharing behavior and climate of innovation positively. Relational social capital has the main role in this relationship. It was also found that tacit knowledge sharing behavior acts as an intermediary role about the effect of social capital on innovation climate. Keywords 1. Social Capital 2. Knowledge Sharing 3. Innovation Climate 4. Tacit Knowledge Sharing 5. Structural Equation Modeling