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Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,7, Maastricht University (School of Business and Economics), language: English, abstract: Since the development of supply chain management, management and academic researcher have pointed out the importance of social contacts, networks and relationships. Dense networks and loads of relationships were considered as competitive advantage and departments introduced extra budgets to invest in the relationships with any buyer or supplier to increase the social capital between those companies to the maximum, assuming a linear relationship between social capital and performance. However, the emphasis put on the bright side made companies blind for the negative effects of social capital and the fact that the relationship not can be understood as a linear function. This paper reviews selected pieces of literature on the topic of social capital in order to assess the paradox existing around the concept of social capital by studying how a buyer-supplier relationship can be affected positively as well as negatively by social capital. Furthermore, the specific concept of lock-in situations in supply chains will be explained and discussed. The first section discusses general definitions of social capital and different interpretations of the concept. In two subsections, the positive and negative aspects of social capital will be discussed. Afterwards, the next section will outline the factors influencing the outcomes of social capital. Subsequently, the last section elaborates on how to guard against the negative outcomes of social capital and how to deal with them if they are inevitable. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn and the limitations are addressed.
The COVID-19 outbreak has magnified the global poverty problem. The socially responsible supply chains plays an important role in poverty alleviation. The leading model of socially responsible agricultural supply chain in China, contract farming, is selected as the subject of investigation. Applying survey date from 201 agricultural enterprises and 461 farmers, the relationship between the three dimensions of social capital (shared values, reciprocity, and communication) and the performance of socially responsible supply chains (increased income), as well as the moderating role of supply chain transparency, is explored empirically from two perspectives. Results show that the three dimensions of social capital have different effects on income increase. Shared values, communication, and reciprocity have significantly positive effect on income increase from the perspective of companies. The effect are ranked in descending order as follows: reciprocity, communication, and shared values. From the perspective of farmers, reciprocity and shared values significantly and positively effect income increase, but communication has no significant effect. The effect are ranked in decreasing order as follows: reciprocity and shared values. In terms of moderating effects, from the perspective of companies, supply chain transparency only positively moderates the relationship between communication and income increase. From the perspective of farmers, supply chain transparency negatively moderates the relationship between reciprocity and income increase. The findings have positive theoretical and a reference for effective management of agricultural enterprises, would help farmers to increase income and achieve social sustainability.
We consider the motivations of a customer-facing focal firm in a supply network regarding a choice between options for production methods and project direction. One option is purely economic, but with a negative social impact, while the other is a socially responsible alternative that entails a lower rate of economic return. In our game-theoretic analysis, the focal firm faces twin pressures: external pressure from its customers (who favour the pro-social option), and internal pressure from its network partners. After choosing the option for the project direction, all of the partners exert value-creating efforts: hence multi-sided moral hazard problems may exist in the form of effort-shirking. Social capital and trust within the network is enhanced by the choice of the social option, which mitigates the effort-shirking problem. Our analysis demonstrates that customer pressure and network social capital combine, and are substitutes, in inducing the focal firm to choose the pro-social option.
In supply chain management, the buyer-supplier relationship plays the key role in improving the buying firm's performance. Over time various strategies have been adopted by buying firms in relation to their key suppliers in order to improve their performance. In the last five years, buying firms have become more inclined to develop social capital with their key suppliers as a mechanism to improve their performance. Considering the potential of social capital as a value creating mechanism, this thesis presents empirical research that investigates the antecedent and impacts of social capital in the buyer-supplier relationship and its consequences for improving a buying firm's performance. Thus the study seeks to advance previous research in two principal ways.First, the literature on the motives for developing social capital suggests that the achievement of strategic benefits is the key motive. Drawing on previous literature, this study investigates rational perspectives of buying firms for developing social capital with their key suppliers. Examining rational perspectives explicates the necessary conditions for the buying firm to build social capital with key suppliers.Second, previous studies on social capital theory in the buyer-supplier relationship have highlighted the impact of developing social capital between the buyer and key suppliers on the buying firm's performance improvement. As social capital theory demonstrates its usefulness in creating value in terms of developing knowledge and collaboration with others, the present study explores this social capital-performance linkage by incorporating the quality of supply chain collaboration and knowledge between them. Investigating the unique effect of three dimensions of social capital (i.e., social interaction, trust and shared vision) on the buyer-supplier relationship is important in understanding the theory as an enduring mechanism for developing supply chain collaboration and knowledge, which enhance the competitiveness of the firm.In addition, the study investigates the unique effect of supply chain collaboration and the quality of supply chain knowledge on the buying firm's operational performance in terms of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. Such an investigation is essential in identifying the relative importance of supply chain collaboration and knowledge in enhancing a buying firm's operational performance.In response to these literature gaps, this study presents a research framework which develops and incorporates two research questions that focus on ten hypotheses. A triangulation approach has been employed by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. In the first phase, quantitative data were obtained from a mail survey, completed by the managers (self-administered) from 204 manufacturing firms in Australia. Structural Equation Modelling was used as the primary tool for analyzing the relationships among the variables articulated in the research questions. The findings of the quantitative phase were confirmed and followed up in a qualitative phase in which data were obtained through interviews with six senior/mid-level managers from six companies. Content analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The findings from both quantitative and qualitative analysis were then synthesised and discussed with reference to relevant theories and previous research.Three major findings were obtained from the empirical study. First, the rational perspective of buying firms is shown to be significantly and positively related with three dimensions of social capital (i.e., social interaction, trust and shared vision). This result indicates that satisfying the strategic needs of buying firms requires developing social capital with key suppliers as a rational choice. The findings also highlight that rational perspectives play a relatively more important role in developing shared vision and trust compared to social interaction. This suggests that firm's rational choice of accessing complementary resources (tangible, e.g., design and manufacturing capability, or intangible, e.g., reputation), required compatibility of goals or vision between firms (i.e., the buyer and its key suppliers) and a trustworthy relationship which will avoid opportunism.Second, findings of this study support the proposition that social capital between buyer and its key suppliers facilitates the development of supply chain collaboration and the quality of supply chain knowledge. Specifically, the result reveals that social interaction and shared vision play the key role in developing collaboration and knowledge between a buyer and its key suppliers. This demonstrates that sharing a common vision or goal motivates both firms to achieve mutual benefits through joint actions. Therefore, shared vision is a mandatory component for beginning collaboration and developing an updated knowledge base between the buyer and its key suppliers. Apart from a shared vision, buying firms also need to interact socially with their key suppliers to maintain the collaboration in terms of sharing strategic information and technology. The other dimension of social capital, i.e. trust, shows no significant relationship with supply chain collaboration and knowledge. S uch a result indicates that trust is not necessary at the outset of developing collaboration and knowledge in the buyer-supplier relationship but acts as a catalyst for maintaining such collaboration and updating the knowledge base. Overall, the finding suggests that social capital provides a new strategic means for developing supply chain collaboration and knowledge.Third, supply chain collaboration and quality of supply chain knowledge are shown as significantly and positively related to the buying firm's operational performance in terms of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. The result indicates that quality of supply chain knowledge plays a relatively more important role compared to supply chain collaboration for improving a buying firm's operational performance. This finding suggests that firms need to focus more on developing and maintaining supply chain knowledge rather than collaboration for improving their performance.
What enables some organizations to routinely perform better than others? Conversely, what makes some firms consistently perform worse than their competitors? Within a single corporation, what enables some teams or individual firm members to outperform their counterparts? Through the concept of social capital, this book addresses these questions by studying the effects of relationship networks on the ability of corporate players (firms and their members) to attain their professional goals. The idea of social capital has become one of the premier approaches to studying networks in the context of organizations but the literature still lacks a conceptual paradigm that connects the various approaches, definitions and measure of social capital into an integrated analytical model. By explicitly connecting social networks to the goals of corporate players, this book provides a unifying framework to the study of social capital in an organizational context. In this volume `social capital' is defined as the resources that accrue to an actor through his or her social relationships and that aid in the attainment of goals. The book introduces the new notion of `social liability' as a framework to analyze the negative effects social networks can have on the attainment of goals by firms and/or their members. Corporate Social Capital and Liability thus presents a new way to tie together findings and approaches in the literature by explicitly addressing the distinction between networks and outcomes, the distinction between networks at the level of firms and networks at the level of individuals, and the distinction between positive outcomes of social structure (social capital) and negative outcomes (social liability). The book's contributors are forty-six acclaimed scholars from around the world with backgrounds in management, business and sociology. Together, they describe how social relationships within and between firms positively affect the ability of corporations to achieve fruitful alliances; gain access to information, resources, knowledge and financial capital; and recruit qualified personnel. The book makes an explicit distinction between networks at the level of firms and networks at the level of individuals. The outcomes of networks are also considered at these different analytical levels by addressing such questions as: how do social relationships between firms assist firms and individuals in the attainment of their goals? How do these relationships obstruct goals? What is the effect of networks between individuals (within and between firms) on the performance of these individuals and the firms they work for? Can networks be managed to yield social capital rather than social liability? The unifying framework of social capital and social liability is helpful in studying business enterprises, and also useful in other disciplines which analyze social networks and organizations, such as community studies, economics, and political science.
Virtually unheard of 30 years ago, collaborations involving environmental NGOs and businesses are now common, and are increasingly being used to address sustainability issues in supply chains. We argue that a supply chain perspective is instrumental for collaborative NGOs in helping them to understand environmental impacts, interorganizational dynamics, and optimal collaborative partners and tactics. We apply a framework that integrates three predominant social capital theories to cross-sector partnerships to explain how three dimensions of social capital, individually and in interaction, may create strategic value for NGOs who seek to improve the environmental performance of companies through collaboration. Finally, we survey the nature of the progress that has (and has not) been made through cross-sector partnerships, and offer suggestions for how social capital may be deployed to accelerate change.
This book shows the important links between social conditions and health and begins to describe the processes through which these health inequalities may be generated. It reviews a range of methodologies that could be used by health researchers in this field and proposes innovative future research directions.
Knowledge has always resided in organizations-but it wasn't until the Information Age put a premium on ideas that intellectual capital was recognized as a critical resource. Now, forces like technology, globalization, and the rise of free agency and virtual workplaces are bringing another form of "hidden" capital to the forefront. In Good Company is the first book to examine the role that social capital-a company's "stock" of human connections such as trust, personal networks, and a sense of community-plays in thriving organizations. Written by leading knowledge management experts Don Cohen and Laurence Prusak, this groundbreaking book argues that social capital is so integral to business life that without it, cooperative action-and consequently productive work-isn't possible. The authors help today's leaders understand the nature and value of social capital, suggest ways they can encourage and enhance it, and explore how they can protect this vital but increasingly vulnerable resource in a volatile, virtual world. Drawing on major social and economic theories, and the experiences of organizations including the World Bank, Aventis Pharma, Alcoa, Russell Reynolds, and UPS, In Good Company identifies the social elements that contribute to knowledge sharing, innovation, and high productivity. The authors convincingly show how almost every managerial decision-from hiring, firing, and promotion to implementing new technologies to designing office space-is an opportunity for social capital investment or loss. They also reveal the benefits that derive from investments in social capital, such as greater commitment and cooperation, increased talent retention, and more intelligent responses to customer needs. A landmark book on the critical role that relationships play in organizational success, In Good Company helps employees at all levels recognize the power of social capital to help people work better, and make organizations better places to work. Don Cohen is a writer, consultant, and the editor of Knowledge Directions . Laurence Prusak is Executive Director of the IBM Institute for Knowledge Management and co-author of Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know .
This book presents perspectives on the knowledge creation metaphor of learning, and elaborates the trialogical approach to learning. The knowledge creation metaphor differs from both the acquisition and the participation metaphors. In a nutshell trialogical approaches seek to engage learners in joint work with shared objects and artefacts mediated by collaboration technology. The theoretical underpinnings stem from different origins, including Bereiter and Scardamalia’s theory on knowledge building and Engeström’s activity theory. The authors in this collection introduce key concepts and techniques, explain tools designed and developed to support knowledge creation, and report results from case studies in specific contexts. The book chapters integrate theoretical, methodological, empirical and technological research, to elaborate the empirical findings and to explain the design of the knowledge creation tools. The target audiences for this book are researchers, teachers and Human Resource developers interested in new perspectives on collaborative learning, technology-mediated knowledge creation, and applications of this in their own settings, for higher education, teacher training and workplace learning. The book is the result of joint efforts from many contributors who took part in the Knowledge-practices Laboratory (KP-Lab) project (2006-2011) supported by EU FP6.
This groundbreaking book explores whether, how and why firms may generate value from social assets. Based on original empirical evidence, this is the first book that systematically integrates different approaches to social capital and develops a new and more comprehensive framework that relates social capital to various firm s strategies. The author delves deeply into the nature, dimensions and dynamics of social capital deploying research and analytical techniques from a wide variety of disciplines including, the theory of the firm, entrepreneurship, regional studies, strategic management, international business and innovation studies. Francesca Masciarelli provides insights into a new multilevel configuration of social capital and supports this with an abundance of empirical evidence. Making a step towards the development of a more comprehensive theory of social capital this book will prove essential for graduate students and scholars in business strategy, the social sciences, technology strategy, industrial organization, political science, economics of innovation, economics of technological change, internationalization and regional studies. Practitioners, leading consultancies, business advisers and policymakers operating in the field of business strategy and management of innovation will also find plenty of stimulating information in this valuable study. Contents: Foreword by Helena Yli-Renko 1. Introduction and Overview Part I: The Strategic Value of Geographically Bound Social Capital 2. The Regional Determinants of Firms Innovation: The Role of Social Capital and Regional Creativity 3. The Impact of Social Capital on Firm Bank Relationships Part II: The Strategic Value of Individual Social Capital 4. Turning Public into Private: How Geographically Bound Social Capital Amplifies Entrepreneurs Network for Innovation 5. International Social Capital and the Offshoring of Intangibles 6. The Role of Social and Human Capital in the Succession Process in Family Firms 7. Conclusions References Index