Performance consequences of social capital in online communities: The roles of exchange and combination, and absorptive capacity

Many organizations support online communities of practice (OCOPs) as part of their knowledge management strategies. Despite some prior investigation of the potential benefits of OCOPs, the effects of OCOPs on behaviors and performance outcomes are not well understood. Drawing on social capital theory and absorptive capacity literature, this paper addresses three research questions: (1) How does social capital influence exchange and combination behaviors in online communities of practice? (2) How do exchange and combination behaviors affect the performance of individuals and the OCOP? (3) How does absorptive capacity moderate the impact of exchange and combination behaviors on individual and OCOP performance? The empirical study is based on online survey data from 253 participants in OCOPs and qualitative analysis of online postings. The results indicate that cognitive and structural capital facilitate exchange and combination behaviors in OCOPs, but relational capital does not. Moreover, exchange and combination behaviors facilitate the performance of individuals as well as the OCOP, and a higher level of absorptive capacity enhances these effects. The findings are discussed in detail, along with their theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research.