Social capital as the main driver of organizationally valuable innovation

Purpose - Through a juxtaposition of social capital with two other forms of intellectual capital – human capital and organizational capital – the author proposes and tests a framework that sets social capital apart as the main driver of innovations that contribute subsequent technical value to the innovating organization. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses data collected from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for measurement of the key variables. Specifically, the analysis includes all 117 innovations patented under the thermal inkjet printing subclass that were issued in the twenty years following the establishment of that specific subclass in 1980. The author also collected additional data on the individuals and organizations listed on each patent. Findings - The results of the analysis show that all intellectual capital is not the same and that social capital resulting from collaborative relationships among inventors has significantly more positive influence on the retained technical value of an innovation than organizational or human capital. Practical implications - Rather than tout the primacy of individual intelligence to the generation of valuable innovation, this research suggests that it is preferable to bring together a group of inventors with narrow individual scientific expertise who instead rely on broad collaboration networks as a flexible source of diverse knowledge. Originality/value - This research addresses an area of innovation research that has not been adequately explored – how do different forms of intellectual capital affect the value the resulting innovation has to the innovating organization?