Knowledge sharing, social capital and firm performance in technological clusters of Taiwan Science Parks: An innovation strategy perspective

Many scholars illustrate that innovation is the most important determinant of technological firm performance and the existing evidence has indicated the crucial role of knowledge flow and social interaction among partners in innovation activities, but little research has linked knowledge sharing and social capital with firm performance from a holistic perspective of innovation strategy. This paper, therefore, aims to explore the relationships between knowledge sharing, social capital, and firm performance with regard to the effects of innovation strategies, which consist of collaboration strategy, in-house R&D strategy, and outsourcing strategy. To test the proposed hypotheses in this study, a sample of 209 technology-based companies in Taiwan Science Parks was examined through structural equation modeling. A variety of research stream, including innovation, systemic innovation, strategic alliance, knowledge management and social capital, has been used as theoretical lens in this paper. By embracing multiple perspectives, the paper´s findings contribute to a better understanding of how collaborative knowledge sharing and social capital impact firm performance through affecting the three distinct innovation strategies. Based on our empirical findings, managerial implications to technological firm leaders and interesting phenomena in clustered Science Parks are discussed.