Investigating the Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Relationship between Intellectual Capital and Organizational Innovation (A Case Study of Iranian Software Companies)

Abstract

This study is to evaluate the effect of intellectual capital and knowledge sharing on organizational innovation, based on structural equation modeling.30 software companies located in Tehran were selected by cluster sampling and the questionnaires were distributed among them. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed using Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. Then, data analysis was conducted based on structural equation modeling using LISREL software. The findings suggested that intellectual capital has a positive and significant effect on knowledge sharing (0.27= β) and on organizational innovation (0.48 = β). In addition, the findings indicated that knowledge sharing has a positive impact on organizational innovation (p = 0.30). On the other hand, the findings suggested that knowledge sharing plays a mediating role in the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational innovation. Besides, intellectual capital not only has a direct impact on innovation through knowledge sharing, it also has an indirect influence on organizational innovation.

Keywords

• Intellectual capital
• Knowledge sharing
• Organizational innovation
• Relational capital
• Structural capital