The Effects of Social Capital on Firm Substantive and Symbolic Performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hefu Liu ◽  
Weiling Ke ◽  
Kwok Kee Wei ◽  
Yaobin Lu

This study examines the effects of social capital in the context of e-business and investigates how each of the three dimensions of social capital (structural, relational and cognitive) differentially influences a firm's substantive and symbolic performance. The study explores how structural capital and cognitive capital indirectly affect firm performance through relational capital. The research model is generally supported by data collected from a survey of 205 firms in China. The results suggest that structural and relational capital positively influence substantive and symbolic performance, respectively. However, cognitive capital does not have significant effects on substantive performance, though it positively affects symbolic performance. Also, the study found that structural capital and relational capital have stronger effects on substantive performance than symbolic performance. In contrast, cognitive capital has stronger effects on symbolic performance than substantive performance. Further, both structural capital and cognitive capital positively affect relational capital.

Author(s):  
Hefu Liu ◽  
Weiling Ke ◽  
Kwok Kee Wei ◽  
Yaobin Lu

This study examines the effects of social capital in the context of e-business and investigates how each of the three dimensions of social capital (structural, relational and cognitive) differentially influences a firm's substantive and symbolic performance. The study explores how structural capital and cognitive capital indirectly affect firm performance through relational capital. The research model is generally supported by data collected from a survey of 205 firms in China. The results suggest that structural and relational capital positively influence substantive and symbolic performance, respectively. However, cognitive capital does not have significant effects on substantive performance, though it positively affects symbolic performance. Also, the study found that structural capital and relational capital have stronger effects on substantive performance than symbolic performance. In contrast, cognitive capital has stronger effects on symbolic performance than substantive performance. Further, both structural capital and cognitive capital positively affect relational capital.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
Tao Zhou

This article contends that due to the intense competition, it is crucial for mobile social networking services (SNS) providers to retain users and facilitate their continuance. Integrating both perspectives of social capital and privacy concern, this research examined mobile SNS continuance. Social capital includes three dimensions: structural capital, relational capital and cognitive capital. The results indicated that both social capital and privacy concerns have significant effects on continuing usage. The results imply that service providers need to develop social capital and curb privacy concerns in order to facilitate users' continuance usage of mobile SNS.


Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Jędrych ◽  
Dariusz Klimek ◽  
Agnieszka Rzepka

Social capital is currently perceived as one of the basic factors of economic development and economic success of enterprises. However, while there is already much research on social capital in enterprises, there has been little such research in the energy industry. The aim of the publication is to fill the gap in this regard. The basic question that the authors try to answer is whether there is a higher level of capital in energy companies compared to other industries, and if so, what the reasons are for this. Apart from answering this question, the authors present their own method of measuring the level of this capital. The first part of the article presents the results of a study on the level of social capital in Polish energy companies, whereas the second part compares the levels of social capital in energy companies and industrial companies in other sectors. According to the study, energy companies generally have higher levels of social capital than companies in other industries. It has been found, however, that individual forms of capital that comprise social capital differ. The most significant differences were observed in relational capital, followed by cognitive capital at a lower value and structural capital at the lowest. The survey also revealed that there is a difference in social capital levels among the researched professional groups: management, administration, and production.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Jia ◽  
Dianne Hall ◽  
Zhijun Yan ◽  
Junjiang Liu ◽  
Terry Byrd

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 898-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yosra Mani ◽  
Lassaad Lakhal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how internal social capital – as a part of the familiness resources– affects family firm performance. The social capital theory states that internal social capital within family businesses is composed of three dimensions: the structural dimension, the relational dimension, and the cognitive dimension. The aim of the paper is to study the relationship between each dimension of internal social capital and family firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs an empirical investigation which is based on a sample of 114 Tunisian family firms. Findings – Results demonstrate that the structural and relational dimensions are positively associated with financial and non-financial family firm’s performance. However, the cognitive dimension has a significant positive effect on financial performance but not on non-financial family firm performance. Originality/value – The proposed model aims to test the direct effect of internal social capital dimensions on financial and non-financial family firm’s performance. Besides, there is a lack of empirical evidence aiming at understanding the impact of structural, cognitive and relational social capital on the performance of family firms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardeep Chahal ◽  
Purnima Bakshi

Executive Summary Intellectual capital has recently been receiving increased attention from both academic communities and practitioners, and is identified as an important strategic asset which provides sustainability and yields better performance. It also gives rise to the view that the organizations which possess skilled, creative, and distinctive knowledgeable employees along with supportive organizational structures and systems, and maintains cordial customer relations contribute in achieving superior organizational position. Hence, it is important to understand to what extent intellectual capital is efficiently utilized by specific sectors in creating value for organizations ( Kamath, 2007 ). The present study aims to develop, establish, and empirically validate the intellectual capital scale in the banking sector, in the context of emerging economies like India. Data were collected from three executives each (including one manager and two senior employees) from 144 branches of 21 public and seven private commercial banks operating in Jammu city, India. The three senior most executives were purposively selected because of being more knowledgeable and experienced. The study established the intellectual capital scale as a multidimensional scale comprising human capital, relational capital, and structural capital. All the three dimensions were found to significantly contribute to the intellectual capital, among which relational capital contributed relatively more, followed by human capital and structural capital. Relational capital consists of important items like meeting with customers, customer feedback, and knowledge and regular customer interaction. Similarly, human capital dimension consists of significant items like employee creativity, devoted staff, training and education, experience, attitude, and innovative employees. Structural capital is a composite of valuable items like structure, systems, information technology, capabilities, culture, empowerment, and service quality which helps in developing intellectual capital. The research findings can help bank managers in determining how to generate value using human, structural, and relational capital. For instance, the study findings offer valuable insight into how the managers can improve bank’s structural capital by encouraging innovation ability among employees, positive culture, and strengthening information technology in terms of continuously updating software and hardware. The study is limited to public and private commercial banks operating in Jammu city. In future, the scale validation can be undertaken to investigate whether the three-dimensional intellectual capital scale can be generalized for other industries and countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Michael Isaac Opusunju ◽  
Ndalo Santeli Jiya ◽  
Murat Akyuz

<p class="Default">The study examines the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja.  The study also sought to find out how intellectual capital (human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital) enhances competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The population of 65 employees were used and the population was used as sample size.  Point in time data were collected from primary source and Ordinary Least Square was adopted and finding reveals that the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited is significant. This shows that there is a significant relationship between human capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between relational capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between structural capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between social capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. It is therefore recommended that Pan African Nigeria Limited should emphasis more on intellectual capital such as human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital since it help them to achieve competitive advantage over other firms within the industry.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1440-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yina Li ◽  
Fei Ye ◽  
Chwen Sheu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social resources on promoting information sharing practice and, thereby, improving firm performance. In particular, the authors are interested in addressing the following research questions. First, can the development of social capital (expressed in three dimensions: cognitive capital, structural capital, and relational capital) promote the content and quality of supply chain information sharing? Second, what are the relationships among the three social capital dimensions in the context of information sharing? Third, what are the effects of shared information (content and quality) on firm performance? Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical model and several research hypotheses, well-grounded in the western literature, are developed. Data from 272 manufacturers in China were collected to test the model and the hypotheses. Structural equation modeling was used for statistical analysis. Findings – The statistical results reveal that each social capital dimension has different effects on information sharing and performance. Namely, relational capital and cognitive capital have significant positive influences on information sharing. Structural capital has no direct positive impact on information sharing, but it displays indirect affects through the other two social capital dimensions. Furthermore, both the content and quality of the shared information improve manufacturing efficiency and responsiveness performance. Finally, the paper also recognizes possible reciprocal causality between relational capital and cognitive capital. Research limitations/implications – First, considering the distinct role of social relations in China, future studies should examine the influence of social capital and the potential reciprocal relationship between trust and shared vision, using data from other countries. Second, data were collected solely from the Pearl River Delta, China. Studies based on samples drawn from other regions, such as the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Sea economic area, and southwest China, would provide a degree of geographic and economic diversity and extend the generalizability of the results. Practical implications – Despite the touting of the value of information sharing, many companies struggle with the practice. The findings help us understand the process by which social capital accumulates and contributes to information sharing. Namely, firms must first engage in social interactions with supply chain partners in order to develop a trusting relationship and a shared vision for information sharing. The managers must also be aware of the possible reciprocal relationship between trust and shared vision. Both the volume and content of information sharing are critical to the performance. Social implications – Manufacturers can use the concept of social capital to build relational rents for information sharing. Originality/value – Responding to the call from the literature, this study extends the discussion of antecedents and consequences of supply chain information sharing, with a focus on the influences of relational resources. The paper proves that social capital provides a valid theoretical base from which to examine the role of social relations in promoting supply chain information sharing. Previous supply chain research in social capital often limited its consideration of social capital to relational capital. Understanding the effects of all three dimensions of social capital and their inter-relationships would contribute to the process by which social capital accumulates and promotes information sharing. Additionally, a study with the Chinese data should validate the theoretical model developed based on western literature, and offer valuable insights to researchers and practitioners from both economic and cultural perspectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Opusunju Michael Isaac Isaac ◽  
◽  
Jiya Ndalo Santeli ◽  
Murat Akyuz ◽  
◽  
...  

The study examines the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The study also sought to find out how intellectual capital (human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital) enhances competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The population of 65 employees were used and the population was used as sample size. Point in time data were collected from primary source and Ordinary Least Square was adopted and finding reveals that the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited is significant. This shows that there is a significant relationship between human capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between relational capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between structural capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between social capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. It is therefore recommended that Pan African Nigeria Limited should emphasis more on intellectual capital such as human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital since it help them to achieve competitive advantage over other firms within the industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Raed Kareem Kanaan ◽  
Ulya Nawaf Obeidat ◽  
Bader Yousef Obeidat ◽  
Mohammad Orsan Al-Zu'bi ◽  
Mohammd Abuhashesh

This paper sought to examine the effect of intellectual capital on competitive advantage in the Jordanian telecommunication sector. Indeed, intellectual capital is generally assumed to be an important aspect of the organization and one of the most conducive to innovative activity and unrestrained competition. The paper finds that the tripod of intellectual capital, namely, human capital, structural capital, and relational capital has a significant influence on achieving a competitive advantage. Among these three dimensions, relational capital is the most influential component in enhancing the competitive advantage. Considering these results, the research presented many recommendations for future research, the most important ones is implementing this study on other sectors, resort to multi-method of data collection, and the use of probability sampling techniques.


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