Social Capital and Production Leap in Knowledge Enterprises: A Mixed-Methods Approach (Qualitative-Quantitative)

Knowledge enterprises are the symbols of business development and evolution that can play a key role in resolving the problems of a country and eliminating reliance on foreign countries. The present study aimed to propose a production enhancement model for knowledge enterprises based on the concepts of social capital, and was conducted using a mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) approach. In the qualitative phase, the participants were 12 faculty members active in the entrepreneurship and owners of small and medium knowledge enterprises who were selected using the snowball sampling method until theoretical saturation was obtained. In the quantitative phase, 66 managers at small and medium companies in Gilan Province, Iran, were selected as respondents using the convenience sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data in the qualitative phase, while the data of the quantitative phase was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. MAXQDA11 was used to analyze the data in the qualitative phase, while data analysis in the quantitative phase was performed using SPSS v.23 and Smart PLS. The findings indicated that that the necessary actions for the production leap in knowledge enterprises could be classified into business, policy and governance, and society and citizen levels. In addition, social capital – as a platform and facilitator of the mentioned actions – was found to have an impact on the production leap in knowledge enterprises in structural, interactive, and functional dimensions.