DIMENSIONALITY OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT TEAMS

Abstract

Knowledge sharing and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among project team members are crucial for project success due to the particularities of information systems (IS) projects. Bonding social capital is known to increase knowledge sharing and collaboration. However, the influence of bridging social capital on knowledge sharing is unclear. The interplay between bridging and bonding social capital is especially interesting in a collectivistic society such as South Korea where in-group ties are particularly strong. In this study, we examine the effect of the sub-dimensions of the above constructs (i.e., bonding, bridging, OCB) on knowledge sharing. The results suggest that bonding and citizenry behavior improves knowledge sharing. Bridging improves knowledge sharing by increasing organizational citizenry behavior. Unexpectedly, the effect of citizenship behavior on knowledge sharing differs from the effect of its sub- dimensions. Only helping others is positively related to knowledge sharing. Similarly, the sub- dimensions of bridging and bonding influence knowledge sharing and citizenship behavior differently than the first-order constructs. For example, shared team mental model positively affects OCB, but has no direct influence on knowledge sharing. Conversely, shared vision is the only sub- dimension of bridging that positively affects OCB. Thus, the results suggest that project managers should facilitate shared project vision and team mental model to encourage team members' citizenship behavior and control the potential adverse influence of bridging social capital.