The role of social capital, knowledge management and innovation on the development of the sport capital goods market in Iran

The aim of this study was to identify the role of social capital, knowledge management and innovation on the development of sports capital goods market in the country. This was a descriptive-correlation research and used survey to collect information. The statistical population of the study consisted of users of sports capital goods, which was considered as an unlimited community, and 384 people were randomly selected as the sample. Data collection tools were four questionnaires; Social capital, knowledge management, organizational innovation, and the development of the sports capital goods market which were designed by the course method. The results of structural equation model based on path analysis test showed that the variables of social capital, knowledge management, and organizational innovation have a positive and significant effect on the development of sports capital goods market and the model drawn in this regard is of good quality (GOF=0.592). In addition, according to the impact factor of each variable, the organizational innovation factor has the most role (β = 6.916) and knowledge management has the least role (β = 6.189) in predicting the development behavior of sports capital goods market (R2=0.479). Research and skill development centers should be made in order to facilitate the functioning of work force in sports capital goods marke.