Social Capital and Pioneer Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Technological and Marketing Capabilities

In this paper we study the role of a firm's development of technological and marketing capabilities to explain the linkages between social capital and pioneer behaviour. We have applied a structural model on a sample of 224 firms of the Spanish footwear industry. This model allows us to detect a significant indirect effect of social capital on pioneer behaviour through the development of upstream technological and downstream marketing capabilities. The results obtained suggest that if firms are capable of taking advantage of linkages, confidence relationships and shared goals for the development of complementary capabilities, they will tend towards a pioneer behaviour. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of whether firms should manage their social networks to improve certain capabilities, which are necessary to gain first mover advantages.