The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurship Behavior in the Relationship Between Social Capital and Job Performance: A study Among Faculty Members of a Medical University

Abstract

Background: Job performance is an important organizational factor that plays a significant role in the success of organizations. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the moderating role of entrepreneurial behavior in the association between social capital and job performance among faculty members of the Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, analytical study that is conducted using a structural equation modeling on 260 university faculty members in different schools of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences in 2017. To evaluate the causal relationships between study variables, Structural Equation Modeling Modeling (SEM) on AMOS software, with a significant level of 0.05, was used. Results: The findings indicated that entrepreneurial behaviors and social capital are good predictors for job performance. The direct effect of social capital on job performance (path coefficient: 0.17) and its indirect effect with the moderating role of entrepreneurial behavior (path coefficient: 0.39) were confirmed (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the Sobel test affirmed the indirect associations between variables (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Strengthening social capital and promoting entrepreneurial behavior improve overall performance. Trust-building among staff and designing new motivation methods, which use entrepreneurial indicators for performance evaluation, can improve social capital. Therefore, managers can contribute to the improvement of job performance through developing entrepreneurial behavior among their employees.