Intrapreneurship: the role of social capital – empirical evidence and proposal of a new model of intrapreneurship and its relationship with social capital

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the role of social capital (SC) (and its dimensions i.e. cognitive and structural) in intrapreneurship by developing a model.Design/methodology/approachThe study considered SC to examine its impact on intrapreneurship. By using construct validity four factors were examined for intrapreneurship. In this analysis, structural equation modeling was used.FindingsFindings indicate that there are positive relationships between Sc (and its dimensions i.e. cognitive and structural) and intrapreneurship. This study also shows that structural dimension of SC is more important than cognitive dimension, and innovation is the most important factor among the other factors.Research limitations/implicationsFor wider applicability of the findings, the study should be expanded to a broader geographical. Also longitudinal analysis of the relationship between constructs should be performed to determine if there is a time lag in construct correlation. New conceptualization will be beneficial to further study SC and intrapreneurship influence on the overall organizational performance.Practical implicationsOrganizations that nurture trust and reciprocity (cognitive dimension of SC), open and quality communication (structural dimension of SC) are conducive to intrapreneurial activities.Originality/valueThis paper extends prior research on intrapreneurship by proposing four new dimensions to indicate how SC can have positive impact on the nurturing intrapreneurship in organizations.