Exploring knowledge exchange and social capital within agri-food business support programmes

Developing social capital and intellectual capital is critical to enhancing knowledge management (KM) and innovation. Social capital relates to KM as it provides access to new sources of knowledge, with each dimension of social capital having different effects on knowledge exchange. The amount of knowledge gathered over time and the use of communication technologies is essential to understand the role knowledge plays in social capital innovation, also referred to as intellectual capital.
Social capital and intellectual capital are regarded as factors needed to enhance KM amongst agri-food business support programmes. Limited research to date has explored how intellectual capital is linked to each dimension of social capital. Current qualitative research being conducted in this PhD aims to contribute to this body of knowledge. This paper will include preliminary results from pilot study research. Initial interview and observation findings suggest that bonding social capital and intellectual capital lead to enhanced knowledge exchange and therefore increased innovation capabilities. The findings from this research will be beneficial to agri-food businesses, agriculture support programmes, training programmes, farmers, and governing bodies and will aid understanding into social capital and its benefits for knowledge exchange and innovation.