Influence Of External Social Capital on Product Innovation: The Case of Food Firms

For many years, the food industry has always been one of the important economic sectors and has much development potential in Vietnam. In terms of production value, this is one of the industries with the highest production value and total revenue among Vietnamese economic industries. To create value in the food industry, the role of food firms cannot be ignored. External social capital is defined as resources that individual members of a collectivity may be able to obtain or actually mobilize through external interactions (Leana & Pil, 2006). The caliber of an organization's network of connections with outside partners is known as its external social capital (Dai et al., 2015). The aim of the study is to examine the influence of external social capital on the product innovation of food firms in Hanoi and some neighboring provinces. External social capital consists of five observed variables (scales), and product innovation consists of four observed variables. The study adopted a quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional research design. Primary data on 210 employees was collected from food firms in Hanoi, Hungyen, Haiduong, Bacgiang, and Vinhphuc. The results show that there is no basis to conclude about the influence of external social capital on the product innovation of food firms in Hanoi and some neighboring provinces. Based on the research results, we present recommendations for food firms and their employees