How Human and Social Capital in Architectural and Component Knowledge Influence Project Performance: an Empirical Test from the Film Industry

As firms focus on their particular competencies, they are increasingly using contingent but highly skilled workers. This increased use of externalized labor permits firms in dynamic environments to modify and upgrade their specific technical skills, while retaining and developing skills at organizing outsourced competencies. This increased externalization of highly skilled work in competitive markets raises an important question as noted by Uzzi (1996, p. 64). Do organizations successfully compete on internally generated firm based competencies, or on their ability to access and reconfigure external resources and partners? This research examines the contributions and interactions of firm-based architectural knowledge and network-sourced component knowledge to performance. Our results suggest that architectural knowledge influences project performance through a lead firm's social capital, specifically a firm's brokerage position that enhances its ability to access and configure unique combinations for a project. Component knowledge, on the other hand, influences project performance through human capital, i.e. the experience and expertise of outsourced project members. These results suggest that architectural and component knowledge are complementary and requires the social capital of a lead firm and the human capital (e.g., experience and expertise) of outsourced project members.