Entrepreneurial Social Capital Unplugged

Abstract

First, we develop a macro level explanation for how changes in social capital occur. Second, we apply a dynamic approach to social capital by examining on a more micro level the activities which are involved with and contribute to the increase or decrease in social capital in, largely dyadic, relationships within entrepreneurial networks. Third, we propose a more robust notion of social capital. We found that fi ve key relationshipdriving forces were involved in developing social capital. The research fi ndings suggested that entrepreneurs seem to have a strikingly similar modus operandi when it comes to creating and destroying their network social capital. Activities such as the reciprocal trading of favours, socializing, joint problem-solving, delivering to expectation and using transparent communications were crucial to both. Finally, we discovered that entrepreneurs managed their network relationships heuristically relying on social capital, particularly by leveraging the productive ambiguity of this crucial [net]work asset.

Enacting entrepreneurship as social value creation

“…However, in recent years there has been a shift to considering the social. We note how networks and embeddness Cope et al, 2007;Jack et al, 2008) have challenged the idea of the solitary entrepreneur (Drakopoulou Dodd and Anderson, 2007) and how social capital is seen to play a contributory role (Lee and Jones, 2008;Bowey and Easton, 2007;Casson and Giusta, 2007;Anderson and Jack, 2002). Moreover, social constructionist approaches have been enlightening (Fletcher, 2006;Steyaert and Katz, 2004;Anderson and Smith, 2007) in showing how the social impacts on our understanding of the phenomena.…”

Socio-cultural factors and entrepreneurial activity

“…Within the field of entrepreneurship many studies have drawn on social network analysis to illustrate entrepreneurs' access to resources that are not possessed internally (Bowey and Easton, 2007;Casson and Della Giusta, 2007;Ostgaard and Birley, 1994). The underlying idea is that, although entrepreneurs usually hold some of the resources necessary to create a business (e.g.…”

Network practices and entrepreneurial growth

“…Identity, and practical coping streams of action (strategy as practice), are available to the habitus, co-producing each other. Examples of entrepreneurial networking modus operandi have been found to include micro-actions such as joint problem-solving, and trading favours in a reciprocal fashion (Bowey and Easton, 2007).…”