Heterogeneous inter-organizational social capital: the case of Faraday Partnerships for technology transfer

Given its tripartite impact on society, industry, and university, the phenomenon of university-industry partnership (UIP) has become a valuable research endeavor. However, examining UIP-related literature shows limited understanding from a social capital (SC) perspective, albeit its relevance (as UIP comprises extensive social interaction) and capacity (being an important resource latent in networks system). Likewise, it is noticeable that research on inter-organizational SC has been predominantly conducted from the perspective of homogenous organizations (i.e., have consistent expectation, mission, and culture). However, the perspective of social interaction between heterogeneous organizations (i.e., belong to different sectors thus inherently different) is limited. We address these two gaps by investigating the idiosyncrasy of SC development in the setting of UIP, as a unique context for heterogeneous inter-organizational SC. We contribute to the literature by exposing the various facets of SC dynamics as evolve in this uncommon domain. Also, we identify four factors as moderating the interaction between the three dimensions of SC that eventually influence the dual processes of technology translation and transfer.