Social capital mechanisms underpinning competitive market platforms

Competitive market (CM) innovation contest platforms are growing in prominence due to their provision of a cost effective, yet far reaching method of allowing organisations to connect with a global network of innovation solvers. Conceptual and theoretical support for the relevance of social capital has begun to emerge, with one model revealing that it can be manifested in several ways, including submission quality, solver retention, solver engagement, learning, employment and understanding. Despite the growth of work establishing the role of social capital, there remains a significant lack of understanding as to how it can be promoted within these environments. We argue that to successfully manage these communities, platforms need a theoretical understanding of not only what impacts social capital can result in, but also how platform managers can ensure their delivery by designing their platforms appropriately. Our research will extend the original model by investigating the mechanisms used to promote the six constructs of social capital across its three dimensions: structural dimension (social ties), relational dimension: (trust, reciprocity, and self-identity), and cognitive dimension (shared language and shared vision). We investigate six CMs from the perspective of their experts to explore what mechanisms are in place to facilitate social capital through the lens of the original model. The experts interviewed in this study occupied managerial positions, or were involved in decisions around platform strategy, with titles including CEO’s, founders, and managers. This study represents the first to explore the underlying mechanisms used to facilitate the six social capital constructs within this environment. Our findings reveal eleven distinct mechanisms providing key decision makers with a strategic understanding as to how social capital can be developed, and subsequently exploited. This research thus accentuates an existing theoretical model that identified the emergent themes and net impacts of social capital and reveals the mechanisms used by platform managers to promote these constructs. The result is an extended model that is expected to better explain actual behaviour in CM platforms than its original counterpart.