Abstract:
This research investigates the influence of Internal Social Capital (ISC) on Employee
Innovative behavior (EIB) within the banking sector of Nuwara Eliya District, Sri
Lanka. It further explores the potential moderating effect of workplace friendship on
this relationship
As the existing researches only explore the independent effects of internal social capital
and workplace friendship on innovation, little is known about their interaction in the
specific context of the Sri Lankan banking sector, particularly in Nuwara Eliya district.
As Nuwara Eliya has a unique socio-cultural environment characterized by close-knit
communities and strong interpersonal bonds. This raises the question of whether
workplace friendship a specific aspect of internal social capital could further strengthen
the relationship between internal social capital and employee innovative behaviour
Drawing upon Resource dependence theory (RDT)and Resource conservation theory,
the research posits that strong internal social capital, characterized by trust,
collaboration, and knowledge sharing within an organization. fosters employee
innovative behavior. Additionally, the study investigates whether workplace friendships
moderate this relationship.
A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing a survey questionnaire distributed to
bank employees in Nuwara Eliya. Established scales measured internal social capital,
employee innovative behavior, and workplace friendship. Data analysis was conducted
using SPSS software, involving descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and
regression analysis to test the hypotheses.
