Abstract:Social capital provides new ideas and methods for the study of team creativity because it can reflect the interaction between team members and the flow direction of resources, but the existing literature lacks the research on the mechanism of social capital on the creativity of interdisciplinary research teams. Based on knowledge management theory and organizational support theory, knowledge integration and leadership support are introduced into the study of interdisciplinary research team creativity, and the three dimensions of social capital-structural social capital, relational social capital and cognitive social capital-are analyzed. With knowledge integration as the intermediary variable and leadership support as the adjustment variable, a regulated intermediary model of social capital affecting the creativity of interdisciplinary research teams is constructed. Based on the questionnaire survey of 346 members of 46 interdisciplinary research teams in a research university in C9, the empirical analysis shows that structural social capital, relational social capital and cognitive social capital have a significant positive impact on the creativity of interdisciplinary research teams, and knowledge integration has a significant positive impact on the creativity of interdisciplinary research teams. Knowledge integration plays a partial intermediary role in the relationship between structural social capital and relational social capital and team creativity, while it plays a complete intermediary role in the relationship between cognitive social capital and team creativity, and leadership support positively regulates the intermediary role of knowledge integration. This study contributes to the study of the influencing factors and mechanism of interdisciplinary research team creativity, enriches the related research of social capital and team creativity, and provides theoretical guidance for guiding the knowledge management practice of interdisciplinary research team.

Key words:interdisciplinary research team; social capital; knowledge integration; leadership support; team creativity

Abstract: Interdisciplinary research teams play an important role in solving complex problems and achieving breakthrough innovation. However, due to different disciplinary backgrounds, there is not as much interaction among members as expected, and team knowledge is not effectively utilized, which leads to low level of team creativity. Since social capital can reflect the interaction between team members and the flow of resources, it provides a new perspective for the research on team creativity. Scholars at home and abroad have conducted a preliminary study on the relationship between social capital and team creativity, but they have not reached a consensus on the relationship between them. This may be because existing research has not investigated the intermediate mechanism of the influence of social capital on team creativity. From the perspective of knowledge-based view, the integration of scattered knowledge is key to team efficiency and team creativity. Especially for interdisciplinary research teams featured with knowledge heterogeneity, knowledge integration is an important factor affecting team creativity. In addition, due to the complexity and uncertainty of interdisciplinary research projects, team members are more likely to be faced with difficulties and challenges, which may inhibit creativity. At this time, team leaders can help improve team members' self-confidence and enhance their work initiative by providing resource support or emotional support, thus affect team creativity. Therefore, based on knowledge management theory and organizational support theory, this study introduces knowledge integration and leadership support into research on team creativity of interdisciplinary research teams, and analyzes the influence of three dimensions of social capital: structural social capital, relational social capital and cognitive social capital on team creativity of interdisciplinary research teams. Taking knowledge integration as the mediating variable and leadership support as the moderating variable, this study builds a moderated mediation model about the influence of social capital on team creativity to reveal the influencing mechanism of social capital on team creativity in interdisciplinary research teams.Based on the survey data of 346 members of 46 interdisciplinary research teams in a C9 research university, this study applies hierarchical regression analysis and Monte Carlo simulation to test the direct effects, indirect effects and conditional indirect effects among variables, the empirical analysis indicates that structural social capital, relational social capital and cognitive social capital have significant positive effects on team creativity in interdisciplinary research teams.Knowledge integration has a significant positive impact on team creativity in interdisciplinary research teams. Knowledge integration plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between structural social capital, relational social capital and team creativity, and a complete mediating role in the relationship between cognitive social capital and team creativity. Leadership support positively moderates the mediating role of knowledge integration. This study enriches the research of team creativity, applies knowledge integration to the research of team creativity in interdisciplinary research teams. Thus, it promotes the combination of knowledge management theory and team creativity research, and enriches the connotation and extension of team creativity in interdisciplinary research teams. The impact of social capital on team creativity may have time lag. Future research can further our understanding of the influencing mechanism between social capital and team creativity by collecting longitudinal data and expanding data sources. In addition, knowledge integration plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between structural capital, relationship capital and team creativity, which indicates that there may be other intermediate paths. Future research can explore other possible mediating mechanisms to carry out further research.

Keyword：interdisciplinary research teams; social capital; knowledge integration; leader support; team creativity;