A Social Capital Perspective on IT Professionals’ Work Behavior and Attitude

Abstract

Attracting and retaining information technology (IT) professionals is a current concern for companies. Although research has been conducted about the job behavior and attitudes of IT professionals over the past three decades, little research has explored the effect of IT professionals’ social capital. The primary research question that this study addresses is how social capital affects IT professionals’ work attitude and behavior, including job satisfaction and job performance. Data were collected from 128 IT professionals from a range of jobs, organizations and industries. Results indicate that the strength of the ties an IT professional has in his or her organization is positively related to job satisfaction. The number of ties that an IT professional has outside the organization is also positively related to job performance. Several implications for research and practice are offered based on these findings.