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1 – 10 of 386
Article
Publication date: 13 August 2021

Anna Maria Górska, Dorota Dobija, Zuzanna Staniszewska and Kaja Prystupa-Rządca

Drawing on Putnam’s concept of social capital, this study aims to examine the oral life histories of women on management boards. It explores how the bridging and bonding forms of…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on Putnam’s concept of social capital, this study aims to examine the oral life histories of women on management boards. It explores how the bridging and bonding forms of social capital are created and used to advance women’s careers to reach top management positions on corporate boards.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is both explorative and interpretive. A total of 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female board members of Polish companies to gain access to their life histories.

Findings

Women develop social capital to advance their careers. However, they mainly focus on bonding capital, which allows them to sustain relationships within their inner circle. Bridging capital, which extends relationships to advance women’s careers, is often overlooked if not neglected. It seems it is usually an external shock when women understand the importance of bridging capital.

Practical implications

This study provides a better insight into how bridging and bonding capital help and/or distract women from reaching top managerial positions. It has potential policy-making implications for promoting women to leadership positions. The study results can guide organizations in providing equal opportunities for employees.

Originality/value

This study builds on previous research regarding the accumulation of human and social capital by board members. It encourages academics and practitioners to critically consider the relationship between bonding and bridging capital and the promotion of women to top management positions. This study provides access to a field of Central and Eastern European countries.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal , vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2013

Abolghasem Mahdavi and Hamid Azizmohammadlou

This article aims to take into consideration the mechanism in which the process of industrialization affects social capital in Iran.

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Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to take into consideration the mechanism in which the process of industrialization affects social capital in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to investigate the way in which industrialization affects social capital, a system of simultaneous equations has been introduced and then coefficients have been estimated using the three stages least squares method and the panel data of the 30 provinces of the country during the 2001‐2006 period.

Findings

The results show that industrialization has a significant effect on the level and composition of social capital in Iran. Although industrialization has improved the level of income through which bridging social capital has increased, a large part of this effect has been balanced out as a result of worsening the income distribution due to industrialization. Since industrialization has increased migration from non‐industrial to industrial regions, bonding social capital has been weakened while bridging social capital in the immigrant accepting regions has been strengthened. The increase of specialization in economic activities and division of labor resulting from industrialization have also improved bridging social capital and worsened bonding social capital. Industrialization has increased the demand for education. However, due to the non‐efficient and individual‐based trainings, this variable does not show a significant effect on the level and composition of social capital.

Originality/value

This research has tried to provide a more comprehensive theoretical explanation and introduced two more mechanisms through which industrialization can affect social capital. The subject of this paper is related to both economic and social affairs. Industrialization is one of the most important issues in the field of economic development and social capital is the completely relevant subject to cultural changes. Investigation of the social capital status and determinants can provide a suitable basis to analyse the cultural and social changes.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 40 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2021

Xuefei (Nancy) Deng, Yesenia Fernández and Meng Zhao

The purpose of this study is to examine social media use and its impacts on first generation students by answering the two questions: how do FGS use social media on college…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine social media use and its impacts on first generation students by answering the two questions: how do FGS use social media on college campuses, compared to their peers? How does the use of social media affect their academic experiences?

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study adopted social capital theory as a sensitizing framework for understanding the social media (SM) use and the resources valued by first-generation students (FGS) and used a revealed causal mapping method to analyze the narratives of 96 informants to identify key constructs and linkages on SM use and perceived outcomes.

Findings

The revealed causal mapping (RCM) analysis revealed nine key constructs that shaped the SM use and academic experience of FGS and their peers. The linkages among the nine constructs: three types of social capital (bridging, family bonding and friend bonding), three types of SM use (social, cognitive and hedonic) and three outcomes (academic support, emotional support and distraction to work) were different between FGS and their peers. Among FGS, SM use and perceptions differed by gender.

Originality/value

Leveraging social media is critical for universities to enhance FGS persistence, yet knowledge remains limited. This study showed FGS differed from their counterparts in the SM use and perceptions. Among FGS, the SM use and perceptions differed by gender. The research contributions are: (1) SM technology can empower FGS by building social capital, impacting their academic experiences and psychological well-being and (2) the intersection of gender and student generation status is worth investigation. This paper enriches FGS research by proposing a model of SM use and social capital.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2024

Carmen Daniela Maier

The paper explains how challenges and achievements of human social responsibility (HSR) are addressed by women innovators across the organizational borders of various industries…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper explains how challenges and achievements of human social responsibility (HSR) are addressed by women innovators across the organizational borders of various industries. More precisely, this qualitative study’s goal is to clarify the empowering roles of discursive strategies employed by Women in Innovation (WIN) organization when communicating about women innovators’ demanding realities and about their collaborative initiatives meant to generate changes related to gender, diversity and intersectionality. The WIN members include women leaders in the innovation space with extensive professional, advisory and international experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes an approach that brings together perspectives upon empowerment, perspectives on social, intellectual and symbolic capital and a social semiotic perspective on discourse. The WIN blogs are investigated to facilitate: first, an understanding of how discursive strategies recontextualize the women innovators’ identities and actions and second, an understanding of how these discursive strategies contribute to sustaining and legitimizing dynamic social capital while building new intellectual capital and symbolic capital across organizational borders.

Findings

The WIN discourses both disclose contemporary gender, diversity and intersectionality challenges across organizational borders as well as promote ways of breaking the barriers that prevent women innovators from thriving. The discursive strategies recontextualize women innovators as resourceful social actors with multiple identities. Their social actions are discursively recontextualized as collaborative challenge-solving enterprises. These recurrent discursive strategies accomplish empowering functions at individual, relational and collective well-being levels through materializing new intellectual and symbolic capital when revealing the manifestations of bridging and bonding social capital.

Originality/value

This paper provides a novel integrative approach to explaining in detail the complexity of empowering discourses at several levels of analytical delicacy. It responds to the needs of HSR research and practice for gaining more insights into the challenges of communicating effectively about how to create a more socially responsible world.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Gospel Onyema Oparaocha

This paper aims to contribute toward the extension and further development of the social exchange theory. It provides conceptual insights on social networks in geographically…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute toward the extension and further development of the social exchange theory. It provides conceptual insights on social networks in geographically dispersed organizations, and how intra-organizational social interactions influence organizational behavior, employees relationship exchange inclination and innovation drive.

Design/methodology/approach

A thematic literature review method was used to conduct an extensive review of relevant literature.

Findings

Guided by the tenets of the social exchange theory, the authors’ analysis and discussions elucidate how intra-organizational social network architecture can be developed, supported and utilized to drive innovations in geographically dispersed organizations.

Research limitations/implications

A general limitation and perhaps also a strength of this type of conceptual paper is that it is a synthesis (thematic discursive analysis) of existing theory and published research. Thus, there are no primary empirical content. However, the issue of empirical evidence is nevertheless mediated by the fact that the discussions and argumentation process generate key propositions which could be validated in subsequent research endeavors. Also, the selection of relevant literature is restricted specifically to the topic of the study. The authors strived to ensure rigor through a robust and comprehensive literature review which was organized thematically according to all the key words in the main and sub-topics covered in Section 2.

Practical implications

The insights presented suggest that management should pay serious attention to organizational design – that is, not only from the conventional contractual obligations point of view, but rather, the increasing importance of social capital should also be given some priority when thinking of resilient ways to encourage collaborations and efficient knowledge management. In other words, intra-organizational social network architecture should be considered as organizational capability and utilized as a toolset for the SIHRM to harness knowledge flow and unleash innovation.

Social implications

As both bonding and bridging ties are not only critical for success of project teams but also intensify knowledge symmetry across different units of the organization, they are a major conduit for sustainable open innovation culture within organization. To develop competitive capabilities throughout the organization, it is important for the SIHRM to be involved in global networking, and as a network leader, the human resource management function must have an awareness of leading trends and developments in social networking. The ability to mobilize the appropriate resources and a sense of timing and context in implementing such architecture within the geographically spread organization is crucial.

Originality/value

The novel contribution of this paper is twofold. First, the study provides an implementable framework which scholars and practitioners could use to develop and test the actualization of an intra-organizational social network architecture in a geographically dispersed organization. Second, the study has provided some key propositions and a well-grounded direction for further research to inspire further development/extension of the social exchange theory.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 July 2019

Philip T. Roundy and Mark A. Bayer

Vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems, systems of inter-related forces that promote and sustain regional entrepreneurship, are increasingly viewed as sources of innovation, economic…

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Abstract

Purpose

Vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems, systems of inter-related forces that promote and sustain regional entrepreneurship, are increasingly viewed as sources of innovation, economic development and community revitalization. Regions with emerging, underdeveloped or depressed economies are attempting to develop their nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems in the hopes of experiencing the positive benefits of entrepreneurial activity. For nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems to grow requires resources. However, how nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems manage their resource dependencies and the tensions that exist between creating and attracting resources are not clear. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theory of nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem resource dependence.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper analyzes entrepreneurial ecosystems as meta-organizations and builds on resource dependence theory to explain how nascent ecosystems respond to environmental dependencies and their resource needs through internal and external strategies.

Findings

Two specific strategies used by nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems to manage resource dependence – bridging and buffer – are explored. It is proposed that there is a positive relationship between the resource dependence of a nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem and its use of bridging and buffering activities. Two ecosystem characteristics that influence the pursuit of bridging and buffering – ecosystem size and the presence of collaborative values – are also identified. In addition, it is theorized that resource dependence strategies influence a key, system-level characteristic of entrepreneurial ecosystems: resilience, the ecosystem’s ability to respond and adapt to internal and external disruptions.

Originality/value

The theory presented generates insights into how nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems create and obtain resources when ecosystems are unmunificent, resource-constrained or underdeveloped. The theorizing addresses which resource dependence strategy – buffering or bridging – has a stronger link to resource dependence (and resilience) and under what conditions these linkages occur. The theoretical model generates insights for research on entrepreneurship in emerging and developed economies and produces practical implications for ecosystem participants, policymakers and economic development organizations.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2008

Neil C. Rotheroe and Liz Miller

The place of social enterprise in providing innovation in the delivery of services previously undertaken by the public sector is currently receiving much attention, as is service…

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Abstract

Purpose

The place of social enterprise in providing innovation in the delivery of services previously undertaken by the public sector is currently receiving much attention, as is service user participation in the delivery of services. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the propensity of a service delivery model to positively influence service users' goals, fulfil their own expectations and life chances.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study of a social enterprise, providing services to children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their families. The paper takes a Kantian perspective on the position of service users as ends in themselves, is informed by social capital theory and is carried out as a single case study with survey, interviews and triangulation.

Findings

The service delivery model is found to increase social capital and assists in the reduction of social exclusion and in the building of local sustainable development. It delivers positive social outcomes and the importance of innovative capacity in the social enterprise sector is demonstrated.

Originality/value

Lessons from the participatory service delivery model are felt to be transferable to other service delivery areas. Improvement in public sector understanding is shown to need attention in this context.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2023

Xintong Wu, Yuchen Gao and Yimei Hu

This study aims to test the effects of Technology-related Divestitures (TRDs) on firms' exploratory innovation. The moderating effects of firms' internal and external resource…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to test the effects of Technology-related Divestitures (TRDs) on firms' exploratory innovation. The moderating effects of firms' internal and external resource coordination activities, resource buffering and bridging, are also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of data including 1,372 Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2018 is adopted. Based on propensity score matching sample, random-effect Tobit models were employed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that TRDs inhibit firms' exploratory innovation, while both resource buffering and bridging can mitigate this negative effect. This implies that to promote exploratory innovation, resource coordination activities are the essential.

Originality/value

The research findings can contribute to both the exploratory innovation and technological divestiture literature. The test on the moderating roles of resource buffering and bridging can also extend our understanding of the effect of TRDs on firms' exploratory innovation. Accordingly, several practical implications can be provided. This is especially important for strategic decisions of firms from emerging and developing countries, which often lack sufficient internal resources and strong technological capabilities to develop exploratory innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 July 2018

Irène Kilubi and Helen Rogers

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…

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Abstract

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.

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2022

Luluk Lusiantoro and Rimawan Pradiptyo

This paper seeks to explore how a self-organised social group (SOSG) can facilitate supply chain resilience (SCRES) during an emergency condition.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore how a self-organised social group (SOSG) can facilitate supply chain resilience (SCRES) during an emergency condition.

Design/methodology/approach

A netnographic research was conducted on SONJO, an online SOSG emerging in response to problems in personal protective equipment (PPE) and food small businesses' supply chains (SCs) during the state of COVID-19 emergency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Qualitative data of 237,010 words were extracted from the group chats among 223 SONJO WhatsApp Group (WAG) members and were analysed using template analysis.

Findings

This paper reveals five communicative acts through which the SOSG facilitates SCRES, namely supply chain (SC) knowledge sharing, networking, bridging, mapping, and mindfulness. The enactment of these communicative acts could foster SC collaboration and help rebuild and sustain the SC operations during the critical period of the pandemic. The SOSG also facilitates the SC actors to be heedful of their responsive actions and risky operations.

Practical implications

This paper emphasises the need for organisations to build and maintain relationships with social communities and to extend their social capital beyond their existing SC linkages as an alternative way to survive unexpected disruptions.

Originality/value

This paper offers a novel perspective to understand SCRES from an external force. It proposes that, in the face of a devastating disruption, SCRES is not a self-induced process and that the SOSG could play a pivotal role in rebuilding the disrupted SCs. It also shows how a humanitarian effort could help rebuild commercial SCs.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 42 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

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