THE ROLE OF INTERNAL SOCIAL CAPITAL ON EMPLOYEE INNOVATIVE BEHAVIOUR WITH THE MODERATING EFFECT OF WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIP IN BANKING SECTOR IN NUWARA ELIYA DISTICT

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.