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.

Key words: interdisciplinary research teams, social capital, knowledge integration, leader support, team creativity