Explaining the unpredictability: A social capital perspective on ICT intervention

Highlights

• Current research bridges a major knowledge gap by establishing distinct contexts associated with social capital and ICT intervention.

• Reconciles conflicting views and explains contradictory research findings.

• surrounding the effectiveness of social capital in an ICT intervention.

• Identified distinct contextual factors that act as enablers for different social capital dimensions as a theory extension effort.

Abstract

The significance of social capital and its role in the domain of information systems is ostensive from the extensive application of this concept in ICT (Information and Communication Technology)-related research. Despite overwhelming research to support social capital theory’s central predictions, evidence exists for deviations from these predictions. Therefore, the relationship between ICT and social capital often appears largely to be an ambivalent one. By adopting a systematic review approach, the current study attempts to present a suitable explanation for the varied effectiveness of social capital in ICT intervention.

The contribution of the current research can be seen as two-fold. The first is the identification of distinct contexts associated with social capital and ICT intervention. This proposed contextual link seeks to reconcile conflicting views and explain contradictory findings surrounding the effectiveness of social capital in an ICT intervention. The second contribution is the identification of distinct contextual factors that act as enablers in different social capital dimensions. Being cognizant of these factors is essential not only for researchers to better understand the effectiveness of social capital in different scenarios, but is also critical for practitioners to be able to select the correct form of ICT during an ICT intervention so as to favourably leverage the contextual enablers

Introduction

The significance of social capital and its role in the domain of information systems is ostensive from the extensive application of this concept in ICT (Information and Communication Technology)-related research (Yang, Lee, & Kurnia, 2007), yet the relationship between ICT and social capital appears largely to be an ambivalent one. Comprehensive reviews of social capital literature spanning multiple domains and temporal periods affirm a positive correlation between social capital and favourable outcomes (Adler and Kwon, 2002, Yang et al., 2007, Lee, 2009). As a result, social capital theory has been extensively used in management and IS (Information Systems) literature to investigate collective actions, value creation, knowledge sharing, team performance, research and development, and innovations (Zheng, 2010). Despite overwhelming evidence to support social capital theory’s central predictions, evidence exists for deviations from these predictions. Aside from extreme cases of negative consequences resulting from social capital (Pillai, Hodgkinson, Kalyanaram, & Nair, 2015), several studies have pointed out the unpredictability of this theoretical lens by presenting evidence where the presence of sufficient social capital did not result in a successful ICT intervention (Yang et al., 2007; Urquhart, Liyanage, & Kah, 2008). Although some argue that many of these deviations are due to conceptualizing social capital as an independent variable, others who treat social capital as a dependent variable are also in this camp. For example, some early researchers portrayed a negative relationship between technology usage and social capital where the use of certain technology, like television or the Internet, can lead to a decline in social capital (Verba et al., 1995 in Norris, 1996, Putnam, 2000). Such contradictory results have been described as “inadequate knowledge” (Yang et al., 2007) and have paved calls to deepen our understanding of the processes underpinning social capital’s development (Jordan & Munasib, 2006).

The purpose of the present research is to begin to fill this existing knowledge gap and address concerns raised by earlier researchers by presenting a suitable explanation. By adopting a systematic review approach as a tool to analyze the multifaceted dimensions of social capital, the current study synthesizes empirical findings from the existing literature on the relationship between social capital, ICT, and the surrounding context in an effort to verify, modify and enrich theoretical pursuits. Acknowledging the concern that social capital can be simultaneously beneficial and detrimental, it is argued here that such varied behaviour is better understood by looking at the surrounding context of the ICT intervention. Specifically, the presence of three distinct contexts is identified in the ICT and social capital literature, and it is argued that these contextual enablers are largely responsible for the effectiveness of social capital in an ICT intervention. Therefore, the contribution of the current research can be seen as two-fold. The first is the identification of distinct contexts associated with social capital and ICT intervention. This proposed contextual link seeks to reconcile conflicting views and explain contradictory findings surrounding the effectiveness of social capital in an ICT intervention. The second contribution is the identification of distinct contextual factors that act as enablers in different social capital dimensions. Being cognizant of these factors is essential not only for researchers to better understand the effectiveness of social capital in different scenarios, but is also critical for practitioners to be able to select the correct form of ICT during an ICT intervention so as to favourably leverage the contextual enablers.

As the goal here is to develop a stable explanation of the varied effectiveness of social capital, one that encompasses both social capital’s influence on the outcome during an ICT intervention and ICT’s impact on the level of social capital, the following questions can serve as the basis for analyzing the burgeoning literature on social capital and ICT.

• How does social capital relate to its context during an ICT intervention?

• What are the contextual enablers that influence social capital dimensions during an ICT intervention?

• How does ICT usage influence social capital dimensions?

Inspired by these questions, Section 2 reviews the conceptual origin and manifestation of social capital, followed by a discussion of the significance of context as a theoretical lens for analyzing a social capital-ICT relationship (Section 3). Section 4 outlines the current study’s systematic review process. Next, in Section 5, the findings from a selected literature review are synthesized to identify distinct existing contexts. In Section 6, a critical discussion on the theoretical gaps is developed to delineate the influencing relationship between social capital, ICT, and context. Thus, an expanded theory of social capital-driven benefit, one that incorporates contextual influence on social capital dimensions, is proposed. Section 7 offers concluding remarks that summarize the significance of the current findings, its limitations, plus future research directions.