scholarly journals Blockchain adoption in supply networks: a social capital perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Galati
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Brokers ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the early but fervent debate on blockchain and supply networks by proposing a novel theoretical perspective on blockchain adoption grounded on social capital theory. In particular, it seeks to answer the following question: what is the role of social capital in shaping the decision to adopt blockchain in supply networks? Design/methodology/approach Multiple case-studies, based on interviews performed with managers of eight firms, were used. Findings The social capital theory emerged as an additional but necessary lens to investigate blockchain implementation in supply networks. The intuitions proposed highlighted the importance of managers’ sensemaking for investigating technology adoption. Relational capital emerged as a necessary but not sufficient condition to adopt blockchain in supply networks. In addition, it is argued a relationship between competitive opportunities at the firm level and the idea to adopt the blockchain. The opportunity to act as “Tertius Gaudens” or as “Tertius Iungens” information brokers in supply networks should severely affect firms’ proneness toward the adoption of blockchain solutions. Originality/value This is one of the first studies in the literature investigating blockchain adoption in supply networks from a social capital perspective. It introduces new issues to the debate related to the role of blockchain in the supply chain by discussing the role of goal misalignment and competitive advantage, which emerged as crucial for shaping the decision to adopt blockchain in supply networks.

Does supplier opportunism lead to buyer opportunism? A social capital perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Steinle ◽  
Holger Schiele ◽  
Tobias Bohnenkamp
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Behavioral Approach ◽  
Relational Capital ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supplier Relations ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

Purpose In light of increasingly tight buyer–supplier relationships, opportunism is a problem of increasing relevance. So far, opportunism has mainly been researched as a detrimental action by suppliers and interpreted with an institutional economics lens. Recent conceptual work, however, has argued more for a behavioral approach to operations management, suggesting benefits of taking a social capital perspective on opportunism. Based on a large empirical sample of buyer–supplier relations, this paper aims to provide an empirical study using social capital as theoretical lens. Further, it analyzes both supplier and buyer opportunism at the same time. Design/methodology/approach The paper, through following a quantitative approach, considers the interacting dyad of buyer and supplier opportunism, its antecedents as well as its performance implications. Findings Findings did not support the expectation that supplier opportunism will be countered by buyer opportunism in a single relationship. However, social capital in the form of cognitive and relational capital has been found as a good predictor of opportunism. This study proposes new measures for structural capital. Further the study confirms the detrimental effect of opportunism on performance of the buyer–supplier relationship, highlighting the mediating role of innovation as building block of relational competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications Previous studies on opportunism in buyer–supplier relations were mostly transaction cost-oriented, thus neglecting the behavioral aspects of exchange processes. Introducing social capital theory revealed to be a rewarding amplification of the perspective. Next, most research up till now was focused on explaining supplier opportunism only. This study contributes by analyzing both sides of the interacting dyad. Finally, this research closes a research gap by not only explaining the occurrence of opportunism but by also testing its performance outcomes. Accordingly, this study contributes to the opportunism literature, social capital theory development and to the management of buyer–supplier relations. Practical implications Building up cognitive and relational capital is likely to be a tool to reduce the danger of opportunism – both with the partner firm, as well as inside the own organization. As such, firms need to make sure that both forms of social capital are present to a higher extent. If this is not the case, opportunistic actions on both buying and supplying side might occur which have damaging impacts on the generation of innovation as well as the achievement of strategic advantages. Originality/value While previous studies have focused on explaining supplier opportunism, an analysis of both sides of the interacting dyad between buyer and supplier opportunism is missing. Not only does this research provides further insights with regard to the latter, but further considers the role of social capital as underlying factor explaining both buyer and supplier opportunism. Also, this research answers the call on more research about the relation between opportunism and performance, specifically focusing on innovation and strategic advantage generation.

Opportunism risk in service triads – a social capital perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evi Hartmann ◽  
Stefan Herb
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
Partner Firm ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The authors aim to conceptually show how social capital between service buyer and partner firm in a service triad impacts the service buyer's opportunism risk regarding the service provider's behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw on social capital theory to conceptually derive propositions on the role of social capital with regard to the antecedents of opportunism in service triads. Findings – Based on literature, the authors show how social capital between service buyer and partner firm decreases the service buyer's opportunism risk regarding the provider's behavior. Structural capital enhances information flows, thus reducing ambiguity. Relational capital reduces ambiguity as well as the service buyer' dependence. Cognitive capital enhances the mitigating effect of relational norms. Research limitations/implications – The authors extend the conceptual perspective on social capital and opportunism risk to triadic environments. Besides empirical validation, a resulting research program could follow three avenues: interdependencies between other relationships in service triads, the impact of social capital on effects other than opportunism as well as the role of relationships between individual boundary-spanners. Practical implications – When deciding upon service outsourcing in triads, service buyers should assess their resulting opportunism risk, considering not only the service provider but also their relationship to the partner firm. Originality/value – The propositions entail a shift from a dyadic to a triadic perspective. Analyzing the established dyadic concepts of social capital and opportunism in a triadic environment, the authors contribute to theory on triads as the simplest building blocks of networks.

Understanding users’ contribution in open innovation communities: a social capital perspective

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Innovation Community

Purpose As users often lack the motivation to contribute their ideas and knowledge in open innovation communities, it is necessary to identify the determinants of users’ contribution. This paper aims to examine users’ contribution in open innovation communities based on the social capital theory. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected 474 valid responses from a survey and adopted structural equation modeling (SEM) to conduct data analysis. Findings The results indicated that social interaction, which includes informational and emotional interaction, has a significant effect on social capital, which in turn affects users’ contribution. Research limitations/implications The results imply that companies need to facilitate users’ interactions and develop social capital to promote their contribution in open innovation communities. Originality/value Although previous research has found the effect of individual motivations such as perceived benefits and behavioural control on innovation community users’ behaviour, it has seldom considered the effect of social capital embedded within the social relationship networking. This research tries to fill the gap and the results disclosed the mechanism underlying open innovation community users’ contribution.

The role of knowledge absorptive capacity on the relationship between cognitive social capital and entrepreneurial orientation

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1015-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro M. García-Villaverde ◽  
Job Rodrigo-Alarcón ◽  
Maria Jose Ruiz-Ortega ◽  
Gloria Parra-Requena
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cognitive Social Capital ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of cognitive social capital (CSC) on firms’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and how knowledge absorptive capacity moderates this relationship. The purpose is aimed at completing the gap in the literature regarding determinants of EO linked with knowledge. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study was carried out on a sample of 292 Spanish firms in the agri-food industry. Partial least squares (SmartPLS software) was used to evaluate the measurement and structural models. Findings CSC has a curvilinear influence (U-shaped) on EO. In addition, this relationship is accentuated with higher knowledge absorptive capacity. Practical implications Managers should promote cognitively close networks and reinforce shared goals and culture with their contacts to maintain a high EO. Furthermore, managers should strengthen their knowledge absorptive capacity to boost innovativeness, risk taking and proactiveness derived from cognitive proximity with their contacts. Originality/value This study adds value to social capital literature by pointing out a curvilinear relationship (U-shaped) between CSC and EO, in contrast to studies focussed on other dimensions of social capital, which have obtained divergent results. Furthermore, this study reinforces the key contingent role of knowledge absorptive capacity. The study provides a valuable theoretical framework of EO determinants connecting the cognitive perspective of social capital theory with a dynamic capability view.

scholarly journals Vendor Opportunism in it Outsourcing: A TCE and Social Capital Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Lioliou ◽  
Angelika Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Opportunistic Behavior ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Significant Attention

Academic researchers have paid significant attention to the drivers of opportunistic behavior, yet our understanding of how opportunistic behavior can be mitigated remains relatively fragmented. Our investigation will focus on the social context and more specifically on the role of social capital in the deterrence of opportunistic behavior. On the basis of two qualitative case studies in the financial sector, we will illustrate how the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital can reduce internal and behavioral uncertainty between the outsourcing partners, thereby facilitating the mitigation of opportunistic behavior. In our study we combine the theory of transaction costs with social capital theory and demonstrate how they can usefully complement each other to enhance our understanding of mechanisms that can deter opportunistic behavior.

The impact of relationship between IT staff and users on employee outcomes of IT users

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Jia ◽  
Dianne Hall ◽  
Zhijun Yan ◽  
Junjiang Liu ◽  
Terry Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Employee Outcomes ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Poor Relationship

Purpose Firms invest much money in information technology (IT) since IT support has been recognized as a critical enabler of employee outcomes. However, the value obtained by organizations and their employees is not always as much as they anticipated because of, at least partly, a poor relationship between IT staff and users. The purpose of this paper is to apply the social capital theory to examine relationship management between IT and business and explores mechanisms through which social capital between IT staff and users affect users’ employee outcomes, including job satisfaction and job performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on social capital theory and past literature, the researchers propose a research model and explore the effect of social capital on knowledge sharing, IT users’ perceived service quality, job satisfaction and ultimately job performance. Based on a survey of 289 respondents, this study applies the partial least square technique to test the research model. Findings Mediation test was performed to explore the effect mechanisms of social capital on employee outcomes, and the results indicate that three dimensions of social capital affect IT users’ job satisfaction and job performance in different approaches. Originality/value This study uses social capital theory to direct how to improve the poor relationship between IT staff and users and provides a useful insight into the mechanisms through which three dimensions of social capital improve users’ job satisfaction and job performance.

Social capital affects job performance through social media

2020 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-922
Author(s):  
Yung-Shen Yen ◽  
Mei-Chun Chen ◽  
Chun-Hsiung Su
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bonding Social Capital ◽  
Bridging Social Capital ◽  
Female Workers ◽  
Male Workers

PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of social capital on job performance when workers interact with coworkers through social media in organizations.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was conducted, and a sample of 230 workers in Taiwan was investigated.FindingsThis study found that bonding social capital has a greater impact on job performance than bridging social capital for interactions among coworkers through social media in organizations. Moreover, bridging social capital affects job performance more strongly for male workers than for female workers, but bonding social capital affects job performance more strongly for female workers than for male workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extended social capital theory by adding the mediating effects of job satisfaction and relational satisfaction and the moderating effect of gender into the model.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that company managers need to train workers how to use social media to appropriate their affordances and consider the work team relationship to position adequate strategies for male and female workers.Originality/valueThis study advances the previous knowledge of social capital theory for workers interacting with coworkers through social media in organizations.

scholarly journals A Social Capital Perspective on the Mentoring of Undergraduate Life Science Researchers: An Empirical Study of Undergraduate–Postgraduate–Faculty Triads

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. ar16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Aikens ◽  
Sona Sadselia ◽  
Keiana Watkins ◽  
Mara Evans ◽  
Lillian T. Eby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Life Science ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Faculty Interaction ◽  
Postdoctoral Researchers ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

Undergraduate researchers at research universities are often mentored by graduate students or postdoctoral researchers (referred to collectively as “postgraduates”) and faculty, creating a mentoring triad structure. Triads differ based on whether the undergraduate, postgraduate, and faculty member interact with one another about the undergraduate’s research. Using a social capital theory framework, we hypothesized that different triad structures provide undergraduates with varying resources (e.g., information, advice, psychosocial support) from the postgraduates and/or faculty, which would affect the undergraduates’ research outcomes. To test this, we collected data from a national sample of undergraduate life science researchers about their mentoring triad structure and a range of outcomes associated with research experiences, such as perceived gains in their abilities to think and work like scientists, science identity, and intentions to enroll in a PhD program. Undergraduates mentored by postgraduates alone reported positive outcomes, indicating that postgraduates can be effective mentors. However, undergraduates who interacted directly with faculty realized greater outcomes, suggesting that faculty interaction is important for undergraduates to realize the full benefits of research. The “closed triad,” in which undergraduates, postgraduates, and faculty all interact directly, appeared to be uniquely beneficial; these undergraduates reported the highest gains in thinking and working like a scientist.

Bridging the gap between supply chain risk management and strategic technology partnering capabilities: insights from social capital theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irène Kilubi ◽  
Helen Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Supply Chain Risk Management ◽  
Supply Chain Risk ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose As companies seek to continually innovate to remain globally competitive, they also need to be mindful of the impact of the potential associated supply chain risks. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the causal nexus of relationships linking supply chain risk management (SCRM) and strategic technology partnering (STP) capabilities (i.e. organizational capabilities, technological and innovative capabilities, learning and exploitation capabilities, complementary capabilities and network and partnership capabilities) as identified by Kilubi (2016). Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate STP capabilities that may positively influence SCRM and in turn foster organizational performance. By using conceptual theory building, the authors create a conceptual framework and use it to guide future investigation through research propositions. Social capital theory serves as the theoretical background. Findings Five STP capabilities have been identified as positive mediators for the relationship between SCRM and organizational performance, in particular flexibility and responsiveness. Originality/value This paper focuses on bridging the gap and identifying commonalities between two principal research disciplines, STP and SCRM, examining how these can be used to assist in the controlling and management of future risks. This study contributes to the ongoing development of SCRM and STP by integrating insights from social capital theory, supply chain management and strategic management.

Orchestrating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in an emerging country: The lead actor’s role from a social capital perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 767-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Porras-Paez ◽  
Jana Schmutzler
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Resource Endowment ◽  
Emerging Country ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

During the recent years, the question of whether an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem emerges organically or is man-made has been disputed. This paper explores the case of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in a developing country. We argue that in the context of lagging industrial development and weak institutions, a lead actor needs to step in to aid the emergence of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. We argue that only a locally embedded actor who has the resource endowment and the legitimacy to do so can assume such a role. By applying social capital theory, we show that deliberate strategies by this lead actor to densify the social network within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem will assist in establishing trust and future collaboration, which will result in productive entrepreneurship.

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