Social capital and innovation of SME's in Harare province Zimbabwe
Date
2019
Authors
Mutendadzamera, Kudzanai
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Abstract
The objective of this paper was to determine whether the relationship between
social capital and organisational innovation is positively moderated by
environmental hostility and dynamism. The literature reviewed supports the
assertion that non-traditional explanatory variables for innovation are needed as
human and social capital are under-researched knowledge resources. As such,
three separate sources of social capital were examined: reputational capital,
alliance ties and political capital. Organisational innovation as a form of
innovation also forms a valuable output variable that deserves greater study. Its
use here with social capital advances a challenge found in literature to better
understand the elements that contribute to organisational advantage. The
question of how these variables manifest in an emerging economy context such
as Zimbabwe was unanswered in literature. Adopting dynamism and hostility as
moderating variables allowed the empirical assessment of the conditions under
which firms in this environment operate. Based on survey data collected and
analysed between November and December 2018 in Harare province, support
was found for the positive influence of alliance capital on organisational
innovation when moderated by hostility and dynamism. Findings did not support
the same proposition for political capital and reputational capital.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and
Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Entrepreneurship
and New Venture Creation
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Citation
Mutendadzamera, Kudzanai (2019) Social capital and innovation of SMEs in Harare Province, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/28424>