The potential of internal social capital in organizations: An assessment of past research and suggestions for the future

ABSTRACT

This study’s purpose was to synthesize the structure and content of the internal social capital (ISC) literature within business management refereed journals from 1989 to 2017 and to propose future directions for study. Performance indicators, bibliographic coupling, and content analysis were used to conduct the literature review. One hundred twenty-eight documents were organized in eight conceptual theme clusters addressing ISC’s definition, structure and behavioral dynamics, function of bonding, capacity building, and culture setting. The review also addressed performance enhancements and constraints that emanate out of ISC processes. In addition, it addressed the unique contextual ISC relevance of the family influence in family businesses. Gaps in the literature are discussed and a series of future research directions are posed for each of the eight thematic clusters that evolved from the literature review analysis.

KEYWORDS:

• Internal social capital
• family firm
• network analysis
• mapping analysis
• content analysis
• literature review

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the article’s associate editor, Norris Krueger, and two anonymous reviewers whose observations, comments, and suggestions greatly helped us clarify our ideas. We are also grateful to Allison W. Pearson, who provided valuable feedback on previous drafts of this article.

Notes

¹ “internal social capital” or “bonding social capital” or ““team social capital” or “intragroup closure” or “family social capital” or “internal trust” or “internal communication” or “internal relationships” or “internal interactions.”

² Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology.

³ Small Business Economics, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Research, Family Business Review, Journal of Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, International Small Business Journal, Human Relations, Journal of Business Ethics, and Corporate Governance: An International Review. And Journal of Family Business Strategy (this last was launched in 2010, one year later from Debicki et al.’s (2009) work).

⁴ Detailed information on the findings of the 128 articles reviewed are summarized in an Appendix. Due to the large extension of the Appendix, it is available from the authors on request.

⁵ A network is a work structure made up of a set of workers, set of dyadic ties, and other work interactions between workers (Granovetter, 1985).

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by MCIU/AEI/FEDER-UE under Grant no. RTI2019-097579-B-100; the UPV/EHU under Grant no. GIU16/46; and by FESIDE. The authors also highly appreciate the institutional support received from the Family Business Center of the UPV/EHU in collaboration with the DFB/ BFA.