Affecting innovation through HRM: the role of creative capital

This paper provides a new and integrated approach to understanding, through creative capital, the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and innovation. The conceptual framework presented, building on insights from social capital research and the field of regional economic development, offers a new view on how organisations improve their innovation performance through managing human resources. We advance the idea that the relationship between innovation performance and HRM is path-dependent, influenced by human capital, social capital and creative capital. The creative capital concerns the openness of organisations to the diversity of knowledge, skills, attitudes and other characteristics available to it. The implications of our framework are discussed, as well as the practical implications. A research agenda for future research is proposed