Corporate Social Capital and Strategic Management--A Research Based on Network Structure Perspective

Author: Zhou Xiaohu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-06
Features: This book begins by examining the impact of economic globalization and information technology transformation on management, reviewing the evolution of traditional corporate strategy and the development of social capital theory. It proposes that the study of corporate strategy needs to adapt to the times, shifting its basic research methods from atomism to a social capital perspective based on network relationships. It defines corporate social capital as a collection of explicit and implicit resources embedded within the corporate network structure that can be controlled by the enterprise, facilitating the achievement of its goals and goal-oriented activities. From this, we derive a contingency perspective on social capital, where, depending on different contingency factors, corporate networks and network resources may either facilitate or constrain the achievement of corporate goals. The former is termed corporate social capital, while the latter is termed social liabilities.
This book does not confine itself to traditional social network structure methods but takes a management perspective, integrating the two aspects of viewing corporate strategy from the perspective of relational networks and viewing corporate networks from the perspective of human resources. Following this approach, the book proposes several bold hypotheses. For example, it suggests that enterprise institutional arrangements centered on residual claim rights should be based on social capital, and that the corporate structure should shift from the logic of capital to the logic of "social capital." Another example is that the choice of corporate organizational form should align with the stock of social capital. The greater the differences in task diversity and complexity within departments, the higher the demand for social capital. A lack of corporate social capital is often a significant factor hindering both diversification efficiency and specialization efficiency.
It can be said that businesses have entered an era where entrepreneurs must incorporate the development of corporate social capital, particularly the management of corporate network capabilities, into corporate management. Effective organizational structures must be established to ensure the comprehensive, sustainable, and orderly development of corporate social capital.