The role of social capital in the relationship between human capital and career mobility. Moderator or mediator?
| Published date | 01 June 2005 |
| Date | 01 June 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930510592799 |
| Pages | 191-205 |
| Author | Shu‐Chi Lin,Yin‐Mei Huang |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,HR & organizational behaviour,Information & knowledge management |
The role of social capital in the
relationship between human
capital and career mobility
Moderator or mediator?
Shu-Chi Lin and Yin-Mei Huang
Department of Business Administration, National Chengchi University,
Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to examine what kind of role social capital plays in the relationship
between human capital and career outcomes, with a particular focus on testing the mediation and
moderation models.
Design/methodology/approach – Using data compiled from 111 employees at three financial
institutions in Taiwan, social capital was measured by employees based on network in-degree
centrality, and development potential was measured by supervisors.
Findings – Results showed that the effects of human capital on developmental potential were fully
mediated by social capital. Moreover, employees with firm-specific human capital, managerial
positions and longer tenure, received higher potential evaluations by their supervisors through their
central positions.
Research limitations/implications – The study shed light on the direct and significant effects of
social capital on developmental potential, while human capital should translate into social capital to
get positive career outcomes. That is, it is social capital that transforms human capital into workplace
gains, e.g. producing positive career outcomes and increasing supervisors’ perception of potential.
Practical implications – Employees should make best use of social capital transformed from
human capital to obtain positive career outcomes in the organizations.
Originality/value – Support for the authors’ mediation model suggests that both social capital and
careers literature can be enhanced though integration. It follows that future research on career
outcomes would benefit from the inclusion of social capital variables.
Keywords Human capital,Social networks, Career development,Job mobility, Taiwan
Paper type Research paper
The rise of the knowledge-based economy is attributed to the increasing importance of
intellectual capital as an intangible and important resource for companies’ sustainable
competitive advantages (Roos and Roos, 1997). Human capital and social capital
embedded in employees are viewed as the fundamental components of intellectual
capital, because intelligence is created through knowledge exchange among
organizational members (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Thus, exploring the complex
relationships of human capital and social capital from an individual perspective is
helpful for deepening the theoretical bases of intellectual capital.
One of the enduring questions we face as human beings concerns why it is that
some people surpass others in the race for life’s prizes (Mehra et al., 2001). In work
organizations, for example, why are some people promoted faster than others? Human
capital and social capital are regarded as the main answers to this question.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/1469-1930.htm
The role of social
capital
191
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 6 No. 2, 2005
pp. 191-205
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/14691930510592799
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