The Role of Social Capital Theory in the Development of Effective Religious Volunteerism

Author(s):  
Don A. Wicks ◽  
Darin Freeburg

This study considers the impact of church involvement on social capital (SC) levels, and the impact of these levels on church volunteerism. SC theory suggests that relationships are established with a purpose in mind and that the aim of the individual is to use these relationships in a beneficial way. This theory drives the research hypotheses and findings of the study. It is hypothesized that church involvement has a positive correlation with higher levels of SC, and that SC has a positive correlation with volunteerism. SC, therefore, is seen as a mediating variable linking increased church involvement with increased volunteerism.Cette étude prend en considération l’impact de l’implication religieuse sur les niveaux de capital social et l’impact de ces niveaux sur le bénévolat religieux. La théorie du capital social suggère que les relations s’établissent avec un but en tête et que l’objectif des individus est d’utiliser ces relations de manière bénéfique. Cette théorie est le moteur des hypothèses de recherche et des résultats de l’étude. L’hypothèse de l’étude est que l’implication dans les institutions religieuses a une corrélation positive sur un niveau plus élevé de capital social et que le capital social a une corrélation positive sur le bénévolat. Le capital social est donc vu comme une variable médiatrice entre un accroissement de l’implication religieuse et l’augmentation du bénévolat.

1995 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Allan Schmid ◽  
Lindon J. Robison

AbstractExperiments and studies were conducted to investigate the role of social capital. Social capital (relationship to others) is a productive asset which is a substitute for and complement to other productive assets. The productivity of social capital leads to the expectation that firms and individuals invest in relationships. Data were collected to answer the following questions: Does the identity (relationship) of trading partners affect selling and buying prices; the acceptance of catastrophic risk; the choice of share or cash leases in agriculture; loan approval; and banks investment to retain customers? The evidence is in the afffirmative.


Author(s):  
Evi Hartmann ◽  
Stefan Herb

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irène Kilubi ◽  
Helen Rogers

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.


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.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110475
Author(s):  
Lantao Zhu ◽  
Xi Li ◽  
YingChuan Wang

Based on social capital theory and fairness theory, the study proposes a residents’ supportive attitudes influencing model, with social capital as the antecedent variable, and the perception of justice as mediator. An empirical research was conducted on residents of three well-known island tourist destinations in Zhejiang Province, China, a total of 620 questionnaires were distributed in the three regions. The results of data analysis show that the perception of distributive justice and procedural justice is positively influenced by social capital; it has a positive impact on distributive fairness and residents’ support. Distributive justice has a positive impact on the supportive attitudes of residents. In addition, the mediation effect of distributive justice and procedural justice between social capital and the supportive attitude of residents has been supported. The theoretical contribution and practical value of this research have also been discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Yang ◽  
Sara M. Moorman

Loneliness and social isolation are significant public health problems. However, the community and neighborhood factors that contribute to this pandemic are less examined. Adopting a neighborhood resource-based social capital theory, we examined whether neighborhood trust was associated with older Americans’ loneliness, number of friends, and perceived support from friends. We analyzed two waves of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, with a sample of 5,817 Americans aged 50 years and older. We used first difference models to analyze the data and controlled for potential confounders including perceived support from family and health status. Increases in the perception that neighbors are trustworthy and helpful were associated with statistically significant decreases in loneliness and increases in perceived social support from friends over a 4-year period. Findings have implications for conceptualizing social capital and for potential interventions targeting interpersonal trust and reducing loneliness and social isolation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Zmyślony ◽  
Grzegorz Leszczyński ◽  
Anna Waligóra ◽  
Wiesław Alejziak

This article contributes to the discussion on the sustainability of the sharing economy by adopting the Social Capital Theory to expand explanations of the sharing economy’s role and scope of relations with local communities in the context of overtourism. As mutual relationships have not been fully recognized through a theoretical perspective, the article aims to examine the sustainability of the process of the sharing economy impacting urban tourism communities in light of Robert Putnam’s approach to Social Capital Theory. On the basis of a selective systematic review, the article discusses the sustainability of the sharing economy through the lens of bridging and bonding social capital. We argue that a new configuration of social capital, i.e., a sharing platform-modified social capital, arises from the unsustainable and disruptive power of the sharing economy implemented by virtual platforms, thereby contributing to an overtourism syndrome. However, from a medium- and long-term perspective, the sharing economy also impacts the bridging nature of social capital, which should lead to a more sustainable balance in its structure. This initial framework for understanding the impact of the sharing economy on sustainability of local communities provides an alternative approach to studying residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism in the areas affected by overtourism.


Author(s):  
Magne Sivert Berg ◽  
Arild Aspelund ◽  
Roger Sørheim

This paper gives a social capital perspective on the internationalization process of new firms. The point of departure is international new ventures (INVs) and their frequent use of hybrid structures for government of international activities. The purpose is to shed new light on the INV phenomenon by studying the role of social relationships in the establishment, management and performance of international governance structures and access to resources for international market expansion. By combining knowledge from the international entrepreneurship literature with social capital theory, the authors construct several propositions on the relationship between properties of social capital embedded in the new firm and their ability to form effective international market channels and deliver high long-term performance. This conceptual study suggests that social capital is indeed conducive to the overall performance of INVs. However, empirical research is desirable – and, based on the propositions from this study, the authors propose a research agenda emphasizing the need for a longitudinal study of INV organizations with regard to the role of social capital in attracting and controlling international market resources.


Author(s):  
HOLLY H. CHIU ◽  
YU-QIAN ZHU ◽  
WILSON FONDA

Innovation is crucial to a company’s competitive advantage and employees play an important role in generating innovation within a company. Based on social capital theory, we proposed a new type of social network: the employee mobility network, and explored the impact of employee mobility on innovation. Specifically, we examined the role of both employee turnover rate, and an organisation’s centrality in the employee mobility network in predicting innovation. We collected data from World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Talentale, and Forbes Global 2000 to test our hypotheses. The results showed that turnover rate had a significantly inverted-U curve relationship with innovation, and both degree and closeness centralities of an organisation in the employee mobility network had a significant positive relationship with innovation. Based on the results, we suggest that companies should find a balanced value for their turnover rate to get the highest return in innovation. Also, we suggest that companies should improve social influence in employee mobility networks in order to attract talent and increase company innovation.


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