This study investigates how a network’s structural and relational capabilities condition the influence of social CRM capabilities on innovation novelty, highlighting a deeper network paradox. Drawing on survey evidence from social enterprises, the analyses indicate that social CRM capabilities meaningfully contribute to the generation of novel innovations. Yet the two network capabilities move in opposite directions: structural capability amplifies the innovative gains derived from social CRM, whereas relational capability tends to dilute them. These divergent effects reflect the simultaneous pull of structural-hole and network-closure mechanisms within the same organizational setting. The results suggest that organizations aiming to translate social CRM investments into innovation may benefit more from structurally expansive network positions than from tightly embedded relational ties. Future work could employ longitudinal and cross-institutional designs to strengthen causal insight and broaden the study’s applicability.
Hong et al. (Sun,) studied this question.