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Subject: search.filters.subject.Social capital (Sociology)

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    Social capital and innovation of SME's in Harare province Zimbabwe
    (2019) Mutendadzamera, Kudzanai
    The objective of this paper was to determine whether the relationship between social capital and organisational innovation is positively moderated by environmental hostility and dynamism. The literature reviewed supports the assertion that non-traditional explanatory variables for innovation are needed as human and social capital are under-researched knowledge resources. As such, three separate sources of social capital were examined: reputational capital, alliance ties and political capital. Organisational innovation as a form of innovation also forms a valuable output variable that deserves greater study. Its use here with social capital advances a challenge found in literature to better understand the elements that contribute to organisational advantage. The question of how these variables manifest in an emerging economy context such as Zimbabwe was unanswered in literature. Adopting dynamism and hostility as moderating variables allowed the empirical assessment of the conditions under which firms in this environment operate. Based on survey data collected and analysed between November and December 2018 in Harare province, support was found for the positive influence of alliance capital on organisational innovation when moderated by hostility and dynamism. Findings did not support the same proposition for political capital and reputational capital.
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    Interactions between social capital, natural capital, and resource use in the central lowveld of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
    (2018) Mbiba, Monicah
    Rural livelihoods have been described through livelihood strategies and capitals that contribute, singly or jointly to derive outcomes for human well-being and environmental change. However, the ways in which these capitals, particularly social capital, translate to better household welfare or improved natural resource management, although a subject of widespread discussion, remain poorly understood. This study addresses the above research gap by exploring the relationships between the availability of natural resources in communal woodlands (natural capital), natural resource use patterns at the household level pre- and post-experience of shocks, and how these relate to the level of social capital, at both the community and household levels, in a rural region of South Africa. Natural resource use and household characterization data were obtained from an existing longitudinal dataset collected for 590 households in nine villages of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in South Africa, from 2010 to 2014. Natural resource availability was estimated from remote-sensed data using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) as a proxy. Social capital data were collected from the household survey, nine focus group discussions, and seven key informant interviews in the study villages. First, empirical models were constructed for the effect of social capital on other household capitals and natural resource use at household level. Second, the study examined the role of natural resources and social capital as safety nets against vulnerability emanating from negative shocks in rural households. Third, in order to improve understanding of social capital as an outcome of natural resource availability, variation of social capital dimensions of reciprocity and membership in societal groups was investigated across a natural resource availability gradient. Lastly, community social capital indices were developed to test the hypothesis that villages with more communal social capital have lower levels of environmental degradation, and thus better natural resource availability. Social capital had differential impacts on the three dimensions of natural resource use. Social capital had a positive association with number of natural resources used, and the intensity of natural resource use per household, but had no relationship with the quantity of natural resources used. As such, social capital does not substitute for natural capital, but rather complements its role in household livelihoods. Household experience of negative shocks was consistently associated with a significant increase in all dimensions of natural resource use. However, social capital did not significantly reduce natural resource use when households experienced shocks. It is evident that negative shocks are associated with an increase in natural resource use, and that the role of social capital is not sufficient to cushion households when they experience negative shocks. Both reciprocity-receive and reciprocity-give were higher in villages with medium EVI compared to those in high EVI. Group memberships decreased from high to low EVI clusters. The study discovered the importance of disaggregating the components of what is collectively referred to social capital in empirical studies because as described, the performance of different variables of what constitute social capital can vary in response to natural resource availability. Generally, villages with lower aggregate social capital index had low resource availability, whereas trust and satisfaction with local governance did not vary across villages or EVI zones. There was no significant relationship between all dimensions of social capital and natural resource availability, after controlling for natural resource use. There was widespread non-compliance and rule breaking in rural communities due to lack of alternatives, regardless of the level of social capital. Fundamentally, this study fails to substantiate the claim, through empirical evidence, that social capital improves natural resource availability, through improvement of natural resource governance. The findings of this study necessitate critical inquiry into the place of social capital in both natural resource management and household well-being, particularly when they experience shocks. In addition, there is need to investigate further why social capital fails to match its posited role as a safety net when households face negative shocks.
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    The influence of cultural Intelligence on the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial performance: a study of foreign traders in Johannesburg’s informal economy
    (2017) Mtolo, Sabelo Goodman
    Entrepreneurship continues to dominate public discourse as has been the case for the past century; this topic has been widely discussed in academia and policy development, not only as an abstract concept, but as a necessity to activate economic growth, especially for developing countries such as South Africa. Many authors have argued that the mixture of good entrepreneurial activity in the formal and informal sector is necessary and it is interlinked. As such, the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship continues to be a subject of contention, especially when it comes to issues surrounding entrepreneurial performance. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of Cultural Intelligence on the relationship between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance amongst foreign traders based in Johannesburg’s informal economy. The major studies underlying this research are in agreement in the field of social science and business studies, suggesting that Entrepreneurship is embedded in social contexts and cannot be wholly understood unless one attempts to evaluate the influence of different social phenomena. This study assessed foreign entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural adjustment capabilities, their social networks and how the two influence entrepreneurial performance. This study was motivated by the 2008 and 2015 xenophobic attacks in the informal economy which exposed a need to understand cultural and social capital dynamics that underpin entrepreneurial performance amongst foreign entrepreneurs. The research model for this study sought to investigate the mediating influence of cultural intelligence on the relationship between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance. The results of this study indicate that Cultural Intelligence is no significant mediator between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance amongst foreign traders in the informal economy. The results of this further reflected significant differences in attitudes between the groups of foreign traders under study.