The configuration of strategic human capital in innovative teams and competitive advantages of firms: The moderating role of team spirit

This paper studies the basic configuration of strategic human capital in innovative (R&D) teams and explores the relationship between strategic human capital and firm competitive advantages. Based on theories of human capital and the resource-based view of firms (RBV), and by using team spirit and human-capital deployment as moderating variables, the study surveys 218 high-tech SMEs in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region with questionnaire and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the configuration of strategic human capital in innovative teams mainly includes: knowledge, professional skills, innovative ability, and team exclusiveness; strategic human capital of innovative teams accelerates firms´ competitive advantages; team spirit has positive moderating effects on the relationship between strategic human capital and firms´ competitive advantages, while the human-capital deployment has no significant adjusting effects. The study shows that, in today´s “Big Science” era, through the cultivation of team spirit, strategic human capital in innovative teams can better promote a firm´s competitive advantages, it also provides an perspective examination on how strategic human capital affects firms´ competitive advantages as well.