The role of social capital in information systems research productivity.

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between social capital and research performance in an information systems (IS) community. In examining this relationship, this study draws on social capital theory and a dataset consisting of 929 journal articles yielding information on a combined total of 184 top IS researchers in a basket of five IS journals. Social capital, in this study, was operationalized using measures derived from social network analyses: percentage of weak components (a network measure of social capital based on the structural holes theory), ego betweenness (an individual measure of social capital drawn from the structural holes theory) and two-step reach (an individual measure of social capital based on the weak ties theory). This paper differentiates the individual and network effects of a researcher’s social capital on one’s research productivity, unlike most studies which aggregate the effects of network structures. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicate that research performance is positively associated with the number of weak components and ego betweeness but negatively related to two-step reach. This implies that researchers who are connected to many others with homogenous knowledge gain marginal benefits of acquiring new knowledge and resources. Hence, researchers should bridge knowledge silos to tap at new perspectives and knowledge to further research.