Towards a Conceptual Model for Social Mechanisms Enabling Knowledge Sharing: Dynamic Relationships among Three Dimensions of Social Capital

Knowledge sharing is of importance to organization because individual knowledge is not transformed into organizational knowledge until it is shared with others. Through integrative review of literature and developing a conceptual framework, this paper presents how social factors create the conditions for effective knowledge sharing. It also attempts to illustrate how relational, structural and institutional dimensions of social capital exchange impacts with each other and with knowledge sharing. Social mechanisms that maintain existing relationships and structure with endogenous institutions as well as the process that leads to changes in organizations with exogenous institutions are presented. Implications of this model for practice and research are discussed.