Title: Praise of intra-organisational social capital and knowledge sharing behaviours in MNCs: understanding the human resource development mechanism role

Authors: Saheb Imani; Pantea Foroudi; Reza Marvi

Addresses: Young Researchers and Elite Club, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran ' Middlesex University, London, England, UK ' Middlesex University, London, England, UK

Abstract: Reviewing the literature suggests that there are four key research gaps associated with internal marketing practices, Human Resource Development (HRD), social capital and knowledge sharing including: (i) lack of studies on how internal marketing capacities can shape the structure of social capital within an multinational organisation (MNCs); (ii) lack of studies on how HRD mechanisms, intra-organisational social capital and knowledge sharing behaviours provide a critical link (mediation role) between internal marketing practices and multinational organisation outcomes. In addition, this manuscript emphasises: (iii) lack of studies on the importance of internal marketing practices for proposing an integrative and complete framework for explaining and predicting organisational outcomes; (iv) and the importance of internal marketing as moderating factors between HRD mechanisms, social capital and knowledge sharing. Consequently to address the aforementioned research gaps, this paper argues the need to combine human resource management tools such as internal marketing practices, with those from behavioural and decision sciences, namely HRD, organisational variables and the Resource-Based View (RBV) of organisations and the resultant resource-based theories. The paper contributes to the literature by informing researchers active at the intersection of internal marketing practices and organisational outcomes, not only by promoting their HRD mechanism, but also by increasing other vital and effective corporate resources.

Keywords: internal marketing; intra-organisational social capital; knowledge sharing behaviours; human resource development; moderated-mediation; paternalistic leadership; servant leadership; organisational effectiveness; organisational performance; MNCs.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.150038

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.27 No.4, pp.566 - 622

Received: 30 Mar 2020
Accepted: 10 Sep 2020
Published online: 22 Nov 2025 *

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