The Role of Social Capital in Knowledge Management Development

This article studies the role of social capital in developing knowledge management and its five main processes: knowledge attainment, knowledge creation, knowledge storage, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application. In order to conduct the study, a questionnaire was distributed to the employees of Iran Data Analysis Co. measuring social capital and assessing knowledge management practices. Knowledge management practices are divided into two categories: hard and soft practices; based on the nature and type of practices, the effect of social capital on knowledge management differs. Findings show that social capital affects soft practices of knowledge management development in IDA Co. and there exists no meaningful relationship between social capital and the development of hard practices of knowledge management.