Multidisciplinarity and research performance in academic groupsthe moderating role of social capital

Resumen

Research is normally addressed by collaboration in large groups, in which researchers from different fields interact and collaborate with researchers from other groups, universities, institutions, and/or firms. Advanced research increasingly requires the participation of multidisciplinary research groups that integrate researchers with diverse backgrounds who contribute complementary assets and skills. This thesis expands the antecedents of the multidisicplinarity–performance relationship and empirically tests the effects of disciplinary diversity on researchers’ performance using social capital as a moderator operationalized of two differ ways. In the academic context, the different dimensions of social capital are usually measured through network analysis techniques, which analyse the structure and configuration of collaborative research networks. In this thesis, apart from measuring social capital using network analysis techniques, we add value to the existing literature by measuring social capital using an adapted scale from organizational studies. In addition, the thesis proposes and validates a specific measurement scale that allows for the measurement of social capital of research groups. This will take into account the qualitative and behavioural dimensions of social capital that are necessary to fully understand the relational dynamics within academic research groups. This thesis contribute to the literature of multidisciplinarity, social capital and research’ performance.