Structural social capital and knowledge acquisition: implications of cluster membership

This paper analyzes the implications of belonging to a cluster through the relationship between structural social capital and knowledge acquisition. The findings suggest structural social capital only indirectly affects knowledge acquisition through the relational and cognitive dimensions of firms’ membership of a cluster. However, the structural dimension also has a direct impact on knowledge for external firms outside a cluster. This paper contributes to the cluster literature with a better contextualization and understanding of the relationship between structural social capital and knowledge acquisition. In addition, the paper also consolidates the inter-organizational approach to social capital theory by helping to understand how and in what context social capital dimensions are interrelated. The study analyzes how firms can acquire valuable knowledge from their networks, filling the gap in the literature on how this process occurs inside and outside clusters. This works also proposes recommendations for companies and institutions, and new complementary lines of research.     

基于网络与信任的马山口镇铁锅制造业社会资本实证分析

从网络与信任两个维度,对马山口镇铁锅制造业企业的社会资本与集群发展的关系进行了具有针对性的个案实证研究,证明了集群内企业的社会资本与企业绩效有着显著的正相关关系,进而从企业层面分析的结论指出,马山口镇铁锅制造业集群发展过程中,网络与信任的社会资本对集群有着显著的正向影响。     

Social capital,internationalization and absorptive capacity: The electronics and ICT cluster of the Basque Country

This article analyses the case of a successful young high technology cluster in an old industrialized European region, the electronics and information and communications technology cluster in the Basque Country (Spain). Based on the findings of this case study, we propose that social capital and internationalization play an important role in increasing the absorptive capacity of clusters (thus, the capacity of a cluster to absorb, diffuse and creatively exploit extra-cluster knowledge), and hence, in sustaining their growth and dynamism. Absorptive capacity depends on the capacity of firms to establish intra- and extra-cluster knowledge linkages. We put forward in this article the fact that social capital fosters intra-cluster knowledge linkages, and cluster's internationalization the extra-cluster knowledge ones. Therefore, social capital and internationalization are key elements to increase the absorptive capacity of a cluster and its growth. Given the accumulative, path- and place-dependent nature of social capital and knowledge creation and accumulation, we employed a largely qualitative and historical analysis, combining statistical and qualitative cluster data and interviews with key actors.     

Creating social capital in MNCs: the international human resource management challenge

Social capital has assumed a critical role in the successful implementation of global strategy for multinational companies (MNCs). The article focuses on the ways in which the international human resource management (IHRM) system and those responsible for it influence the creation and utilisation of social capital in MNCs. It examines the challenges posed to IHRM by the wide diversity of definitions and manifestations of social capital found in the multiple cultural contexts of the global business environment and provides a framework on how to approach the cultural influences on the definitions and behavioural expressions of social capital. It also critically assesses the recommendations that have been made regarding developing social capital in MNCs, the competencies most critical to the ability to develop social capital in multiple cultural settings, and provides a set of recommendations for future research in this area.     

Creating supply chain relational capital: The impact of formal and informal socialization processes

Establishing closer social ties between buying and supplying organizations is increasingly cited as a critical differentiator of high and low performers in global supply chains. While the creation of relational capital within an organization is a relatively well identified concept in organizational research, comparatively little research exists on the inter-organizational socialization processes that create relational value in supply chains. In our research, we extend theoretical models of group social conduits into this context, and develop a model that posits the impact of formal and informal socialization processes on the creation of relational capital between buyers and suppliers. Results from our study of 111 manufacturing organizations in the United Kingdom suggest that informal socialization processes are important in the creation of relational capital, which in turn can lead to improved supplier relationship outcomes. Formal bridging socialization conduits appear to play a lesser role in deriving these benefits.     

The Development of Organizational Social Capital: Attributes of Family Firms*

abstract We develop and extend social capital theory by exploring the creation of organizational social capital within a highly pervasive, yet often overlooked organizational form: family firms. We argue that family firms are unique in that, although they work as a single entity, at least two forms of social capital coexist: the family's and the firm's. We investigate mechanisms that link a family's social capital to the creation of the family firm's social capital and examine how factors underlying the family's social capital affect this creation. Moreover, we identify contingency dimensions that affect these relationships and the potential risks associated with family social capital. Finally, we suggest these insights are generalizable to several other types of organizations with similar characteristics.     

社会资本、知识创造与企业技术创新绩效的关系模型研究

企业的技术创新需要借助内部与外部的知识,而社会资本是企业获取知识的主要来源之一。本文在分析企业的社会资本、吸收能力、知识创造和技术创新绩效四者之间关系的基础上,提出了6项关系假设,并基于此构建了社会资本与企业技术创新绩效关系的理论模型,指出企业需要通过增加社会资本的积累来促进企业吸收和创造知识的能力,进一步提高企业的技术创新绩效。     

Networks vs. market methods in high-tech venture fundraising: the impact of institutional environment

This study examines how institutional environmental factors, including cultural norm, state regulatory system and venture capital market, influence the high-tech entrepreneur's choice for using network vs. market methods when approaching prospective investors at the early stage of their new venture creation. We collected comparative data through on-site interviews and questionnaire survey with 128 high-tech entrepreneurs in Singapore (a newly industrialised economy) and 250 in Beijing, China (an emerging economy). Our findings suggest that a culture emphasising the value of social obligation, the under-development of the legal/regulatory system and the immaturity of the venture capital market increased the proclivity of entrepreneurs to use network methods. Moreover, entrepreneurs who value networks higher in social obligation than in information transfer are more likely to choose personal ties instead of business ties. This study enhances our understanding of how high-tech entrepreneurs in emerging economies choose between networks and market methods in venture fundraising, and offers suggestions on how public policy makers in these economies can improve the institutional environment of their regions to promote high-tech new venture creation.     

基于社会资本的科技资源共享研究

科技资源包括科技人力、科技财力、科技物力和科技信息等资源,其产品的经济属性存在差异。科技资源共享包括共享目标、共享能力与意愿、共享技术和共享组织四个基本要素,并且在共享过程中既产生共享的收益,又产生共享的成本。社会资本在科技资源共享中具有增强科技资源集聚、提高科技竞争能力、形成集群创新等正向效应。与现有研究成果不同,本文还认为社会资本对科技资源共享同样存在负向效应,具体表现在弱化科技资源集聚和引发共享中的寻租行为两个方面。据此,本文构建了基于社会资本的科技资源共享框架模型,并认为需要建立市场调节、沟通协调、监督管理三方面的机制,以此发挥社会资本的正向效应、抑制社会资本的负向效应。     

The emergence of human capital: Roles of social capital and coordination that drive unit performance

Empirical work on human capital has tended to focus on the direct effects of human capital on performance, whereas little attention has been paid to behaviours through which human capital influences performance. This study uses the “human capital emergence” model to examine relationships among human capital, social capital, coordination, and performance over a 2‐year period of time. Findings indicate that human capital, social capital, and coordination each influence performance. Human capital and social capital also positively predict coordination. Lastly, coordination mediates the relationships between human capital and performance and social capital and performance.     

基于人力资本水平视角的产业集群竞争力研究

产业集群竞争力与人力资本水平具有正相关性。拥有较高人力资本水平的地区产业集群更具竞争力,对增量人力资本的吸纳力也更强。一个地区在致力于产业集群形成与发展的过程中,必须以人力资本水平的提升为政策出发点,形成高水平的专业化的人力资本市场,依靠人力资本的高劳动率,高创新能力和外部的经济与社会的网络资源以提升产业集群生产率,提高产业集群竞争力。     

Sharing my way to success: A case study on developing entrepreneurial ventures using social capital in an OSS community

While Open Source Software (OSS) communities provide opportunities for knowledge creation, we have a limited understanding of how entrepreneurs leverage OSS communities for their entrepreneurial ventures. Using social capital theory in a mixed methods case study, we compare entrepreneur and non-entrepreneur behaviors to investigate how entrepreneurs build social capital within an OSS community. This study shows that entrepreneurs differentiate themselves from non-entrepreneurs by focusing on cognitive and relational capital building activities, which in return makes it possible for them to leverage their social capital to influence and shape the environment in which they are operating. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs strategically select which activities within the community to expend their limited resources on (e.g., developing code over participating in email conversations) and build their social capital more through their actions than through their words (e.g., showing their commitment to the community through code commits, bug fixes, and documentation). Given the liabilities of newness and smallness as well as other challenges faced by entrepreneurs, applying an open innovation strategy in OSS communities could be one approach where entrepreneurs, by developing and freely revealing their intellectual property to the community, share their way to success via OSS-infused entrepreneurial business ventures.     

Industrial policy,social capital,human capital,and firm-level competitive advantage

Despite the popularity of governmental action devised to foster firm performance, the link between industrial policy and firm-specific human capital and social capital has received scant attention in the strategic management literature. In this paper, we build a dynamic optimization model which bridges concepts from industrial policy, social capital, human capital, and firm-level competitive advantage. We derive theoretical and policy implications from our competitiveness model, concluding that it increases in the opportunity cost of social capital reduce the production of human capital, so the optimal opportunity cost of social capital under feasible industrial policy should be set equal to zero. A government’s optimal industrial policy to help accumulate and churn human capital should reduce the opportunity cost of social capital to zero and reduce the probability of human capital leaving the community to zero. Thus, the model not only expands the potential determinants of competitive advantage in the context of governmental intervention, but also broadens the human capital theory and social capital theory in the creation of firm-specific human capital.

     

企业社会资本形成机理以及实现路径研究

社会资本在现代商业社会和企业经营管理中逐渐被发现和重视,成为继物质资本、人力资本、知识资本之后被重点关注的领域,其对企业价值创造具有重要作用,对于社会资本的有效形成和利用社会资本有着极其重要研究价值和指导意义。本文回顾了企业社会本研究的理论进展和不足;分别从不同的维度分析了企业社会资本是如何形成的;选取了396家中国矿产资源类上市企业作为样本,重点检验了这些维度形成的社会资本对企业的影响;为企业开发和形成社会资本提出了若干建议。     

The dark side of buyer-supplier relationships: A social capital perspective

The literature on supply chain management (SCM) has consistently promoted the “bright side” of collaborative buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs). Based on the social capital argument, SCM scholars have investigated how a buyer can gain access to and leverage resources through its collaborative BSRs. Our study extends this research stream by considering the “dark side” of social capital in BSRs. It evaluates how social capital in its cognitive, relational, and structural forms contributes to or impedes value creation within BSRs. Both primary survey measures and secondary objective measures have been used in data analysis. The results show the presence of both the bright side, confirming the existing literature, and the dark side, extending the literature. There is an inverted curvilinear relationship between social capital and performance: Either too little or too much social capital can hurt performance. This study confirms that building social capital in a collaborative BSR positively affects buyer performance, but that if taken to an extreme it can reduce the buyer's ability to be objective and make effective decisions as well as increase the supplier's opportunistic behavior. Our study also examines how a buyer can delay the emergence of the dark side. It opens up new research avenues in the collaborative BSR context and suggests directions for future research and practice.     

Antecedents and consequences of social capital on buyer performance improvement

The ability to leverage social capital within strategic buyer–supplier relationships is increasingly cited as a key driver of value creation. Despite the importance of strategic partnerships, the process by which social capital accumulates within buyer–supplier relationships and contributes to buyer performance improvements is not well understood. Drawing on social capital theory, we develop a model linking positive relational capital, and its antecedents, supplier integration and supplier closeness, to buyer performance improvements. Further, we hypothesize that structural capital, as reflected in managerial communication and technical exchanges, is also positively related to buyer performance improvements. Using data provided by 111 procurement executives from the United Kingdom, we find support for our hypotheses. The study extends the supply chain management and social capital literature and suggests important implications for both research and practice.     

社会资本与非金融企业影子银行化

以2003—2019年我国非金融上市公司为样本,研究我国各省份社会资本水平差异对非金融企业影子银行化的影响及其内在作用机理。研究发现,地区社会资本与非金融企业影子银行化之间呈现显著的U型关系。机制检验发现,社会资本通过影响融资约束和信息不对称这两条渠道对非金融企业影子银行化产生影响。进一步分析发现,经济政策不确定性会弱化社会资本与非金融企业影子银行化的关系,且社会资本与非金融企业影子银行化之间的关系存在企业异质性,以上结论通过了稳健性检验。     

Regional engagement of locally anchored firms and its influence on socio-economic development in two peripheral regions over time

Abstract

This article sets out to explore the ways locally anchored firms in peripheral regions influence regional social capital through regional engagement and how this contributes to socio-economic development. Through regional engagement firms shape regional contexts by generating concrete outcomes, such as setting up schools (structural aspect) and by possibly influencing regional bonding and bridging social capital (social aspect). To examine the effects of regional engagement and its possible influence on bonding and bridging social capital of regional firms, an analytical framework is developed distinguishing between inclusive/exclusive agency for inclusive/exclusive benefit. This article focuses on regional engagement in two Swiss peripheral regions, which have followed different development paths in spite of their common institutional framework and geographical proximity. This study aims to gain insight into the ‘how’ of regional engagement and its influence on regional social capital and to examine the assumption of higher levels of regional social capital in a dynamic region from a long-term perspective (ca. 1850–2015). The findings of the qualitative research show that the dynamic Rhine Valley indeed disposes of higher levels of regional social capital than the less dynamic Toggenburg, which is related to the willingness of firms and other actors to collaborate for regional interests.     

供应链剩余与并购协同效益

供应链协调机制是介于企业外部的市场交易机制和企业内部的行政权威机制之间的一种中间机制。具有完全独立自主权的单个企业以牺牲一定的独立性和控制权加入供应链并遵循供应链的协调。必然要求获得某种额外的补偿。超出供应链形成前的单个企业收益总和的供应链剩余的形成并在参与企业间的合理分配。是供应链合作关系形成的前提。收入上升、成本下降、税负减少和资本成本的降低是企业并购产生协同效益的四个主要来源。这四个来源同样是供应链剩余的主要来源。但并购协同效益与供应链剩余在四个来源的具体实现方式上存在不同。这种不同正好体现了一体化的内部协同与供应链成员企业之间的合作协同之间的差异。     

关系型社会资本如何影响企业创新绩效——基于知识转移的路径解析

企业的创新绩效受到企业在网络中的关系型社会资本的制约,这一研究正逐渐受到学者的关注,但相关研究中关系型社会资本对企业创新绩效影响的路径探索往往并不深入。基于此,从信任、沟通、冲突管理三个维度测度企业的关系型社会资本,考察了其对企业创新绩效的影响模式,以及知识转移在此作用中的中介效应。结果显示:关系型社会资本的三个维度均对创新绩效有显著的促进作用,其中有效沟通的作用效果更明显,同时知识转移在该关系中发挥了部分中介效应。研究建议指出,企业应注重构建经济型与政企型社会关系网络,加强关系型社会资本的构建与维护,尤其要注重通过促进企业间的沟通有效性来提升企业间的知识转移效果及创新绩效。