Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T23:19:22.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Strategic utilization of entrepreneur's resource-based social capital and small firm growth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Tina Bratkovic ,
Bostjan Antoncic  and
Mitja Ruzzier
Tina Bratkovic
Affiliation:
Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia
Bostjan Antoncic
Affiliation:
Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia
Mitja Ruzzier
Affiliation:
Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An entrepreneur's social capital can be important for their firm's growth. The creation of a network can be largely determined by strategy. This study makes a contribution by developing and testing a model of the firm growth driven by the entrepreneur's social capital that considers the entrepreneur's resource acquisition network ties. In the model a controversial combination of strong and weak tie arguments is proposed. Regression analysis was conducted using structured-questionnaire survey data from small firm entrepreneurs in Slovenia. The findings suggest that firm growth can be influenced by strategic utilization of the entrepreneur's resource-based social capital. In particular, resource network intensity can have a positive influence on firm growth, whereas the central resource ‘network person friendship’ can be negatively related to firm growth.

Keywords

strategic utilizationsocial capitalresourcesnetworksgrowthsmall firms
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , September 2009 , pp. 486 - 499
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acquaah, M (2007) Managerial social capital, strategic orientation, and organizational performance in an emerging economy, Strategic Management Journal 28: 1235–1255.Google Scholar
Adler, P and Kwon, SW (2002) Social capital: prospects for a new concept, Academy of Management Review 27(1): 17–40.Google Scholar
Aldrich, H and Kim, PH (2007) Small worlds, infinite possibilities? How social networks affect entrepreneurial team formation and search, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 1: 147–165.Google Scholar
Aldrich, H and Zimmer, C (1986) Entreprenuership through Social Networks, in Sexton, DL and Raymond, WS (Eds) The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship, pp3–23, Ballinger Publishing, Cambridge MA.Google Scholar
Aldrich, H, Rosen, B and Woodward, W (1986) Social behavior and entrepreneurial networks, in Ronstadt, Ret al. (Eds) Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, pp239–240, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Wellesley MA.Google Scholar
Alvarez, S and Busenitz, L (2001) The entrepreneur-ship of resource-based theory, Journal of Management 27(6): 755–775.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B (1999) Entrepreneurship networks: a review and future research directions, Slovenian Economic Review 50(3): 195–221.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B (2007) Intervela, d.o.o., Koper – Victory sailmakers, in Antoncic, et al. (Eds) Primeri iz podjetnistva: Ustanavljanje, rast in razvoj podjetja, pp79–91, Drustvo za akademske in aplikativne raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B and Hisrich, RD (2000) Intrapreneurship modeling in transition economies: a comparison of Slovenia and the United States, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship 5(1): 21–40.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B and Hisrich, RD (2001) Intrapreneurship: construct refinement and cross-cultural validation, Journal of Business Venturing 16(5): 495–527.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B and Hisrich, RD (2004) Corporate entrepreneurship contingencies and organizational wealth creation, Journal of Management Development 23(6): 518–550.Google Scholar
Antoncic, B, Ruzzier, M and Bratkovic, T (2007) Podjetniske mreze in rast. The Personal Resource-Acquisition Network of the Entrepreneur and Small Firm Growth, Drustvo za aplikativne in akademske raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Athanassiou, N, Crittenden, WF, Kelly, LM and Marquez, P (2002) Founder centrality effects on the Mexican family firm's top management group: firm culture, strategic vision and goals, and firm performance, Journal of World Business 37: 139–150.Google Scholar
Barney, J (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management 17(1): 99–120.Google Scholar
Barney, J, Wright, M and Ketchen, DJ Jr (2001) The resource-based view of the firm: ten years after 1991, Journal of Management 27(6): 625–641.Google Scholar
Baum, JAC, Calabrese, T and Silverman, BS (2000) Don't go it alone: alliance network composition and startups' performance in Canadian biotechnology, Strategic Management Journal 21: 267–294.Google Scholar
Birley, S (1985) The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process, Journal of Business Venturing 1: 107–117.Google Scholar
Bojnec, S and Xavier, A (2004) The number and size of firms: why so big a difference? Managing Global Transitions 2(2): 89–105.Google Scholar
Brajkovich, LF (1994) Sources of social structure in a start-up organization: work networks, work activities, and job status, Social Networks 16(3): 191–212.Google Scholar
Brass, DJ (1992) Power in organizations: a social network perspective, Research in Politics and Society 4: 295–323.Google Scholar
Bratkovic, T and Antoncic, B (2008) Davor Jakulin, in Antoncic, et al. (Eds) Primeri iz podjetnistva: Problematika rasti podjetja, pp100–112, Drustvo za akademske in aplikativne raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Burt, RS (1992) Structural Holes: The social structure of competition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.Google Scholar
Cerovsek, A, Bajuk, M, Jansa, M, Klinc, J and Povh, M (2007) La Vie, in Antoncic, et al. (Eds) Primeri iz podjetnistva: Ustanavljanje, rast in razvoj podjetja, pp109–122, Drustvo za akademske in aplikativne raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Daily, C, Certo, T and Dalton, D (2000) International experience in the executive suite: the path to prosperity? Strategic Management Journal 21(4): 515–523.Google Scholar
Dubini, P and Aldrich, H (1991) Personal and extended networks are central to the entrepreneurial process, Journal of Business Venturing 6: 305–313.Google Scholar
Ehrlich, K and Carboni, I (2006) Inside Social Network Analysis. Boston College, IBMT, Watson Research, accessed at http://domino.research.ibm.com/cambridge/research.nsf/c9ef590d6d00291a85257141004a5c19/3f23b2d424be0da6852570a500709975/$FILE/TR_2005-10.pdf on 15 07 2007.Google Scholar
Gargiullo, M and Benassi, M (1999) The dark side of social capital, in Leenders, RTAJ and Gabbay, SM (Eds) Corporate social capital and liability, pp298–322, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston MA.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M (1973) The Strength of Weak Ties, American Journal of Sociology 78: 1360–1380.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M (1982) The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited, in Marsden, PV & Lin, N (Eds), Social Structure and Network Analysis, pp105–130, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills CA.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M (1992) Problems of explanation in economic sociology, in Nohria, N and Eccles, RG (Eds) Networks and Organizations, pp25–56, Harvard Business School Press, Boston MA.Google Scholar
Gulati, R, Nohria, N and Faheer, A (2000) Strategic networks, Strategic Management Journal 21(special issue): 2003–2015.Google Scholar
Hansen, EL (1995) Entrepreneurial networks and new organization growth, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice 19(4): 7–19.Google Scholar
Harris, S and Wheeler, C (2005) Entrepreneurs' relationships for internationalization: functions, origins and strategies, International Business Review 14: 187–297.Google Scholar
Hite, JM and Hesterly, WS (2001) The evolution of firm networks: from emergency to early growth of the firm, Strategic Management Journal 22: 275–286.Google Scholar
Hitt, MA, Ireland, RD, Camp, SM and Sexton, DL (2001) Strategic entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation, Strategic Management Journal 22(special issue): 479–491.Google Scholar
Hoang, H and Antoncic, B (2003) Network-based research in entrepreneurship: A critical review, Journal of Business Venturing 18(2): 165–187.Google Scholar
Jenssen, J and Koenig, H (2002) The effects of social networks on resource access and business start-ups, European Planning Studies 10(8):1039–1046.Google Scholar
Johannisson, B (1986) New venture creation - a network approach, in Ronstadt, Ret al. (Eds) Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, pp236–238, Babson College, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Wellesley MA.Google Scholar
Kern, H (1998) Lack of trust, surfeit of trust: Some causes of the innovation crisis in German industry, in Lane, C and Bachmann, R (Eds) Trust within and between organizations, pp203–213, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kolar, U, Lazarevic, J, Malgaj, J, Susnik, T and Vrviscar, I (2007) Nancy Aljancic, in Antoncic, et al. (Eds) Primeri iz podjetnistva: Ustanavljanje, rast in razvoj podjetja, pp33–45, Drustvo za akademske in aplikativne raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Langlois, R (1995) Capabilities and coherence in firms and markets, in Montgomery, CA (Ed) Resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: Toward a synthesis, pp71–100, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston MA.Google Scholar
Lin, N (1982) Social resources and instrumental action, in Marsden, PV and Lin, N (Eds) Social structure and networks analysis, pp131–l45, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills CA.Google Scholar
Maurer, I and Ebers, M (2006) Dynamics of social capital and their performance implications: Lessons from biotechnology start-ups, Administrative Science Quarterly 51: 262–292.Google Scholar
McEvily, B and Zaheer, A (1999) Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities, Strategic Management Journal 20: 1133–1156.Google Scholar
Meyerson, E (2000) Human capital, social capital and the compensation: the contribution of social contacts to manager's incomes, in Lesser, E (Ed) Knowledge and social capital: foundations and applications, pp287–311, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston MA.Google Scholar
Nahapiet, J and Ghoshal, S (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage, Academy of Management Review 23(2): 242–266.Google Scholar
Ostgaard, TA and Birley, S (1994) Personal networks and firm competitive strategy - a strategic or coincidental match? Journal of Business Venturing 9: 281–305.Google Scholar
Phillips, N and Tracey, P (2007) Opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial capabilities and bricolage: connecting institutional theory and entrepreneurship in strategic organization, Strategic Organization 5(3): 313–320.Google Scholar
Powell, WW and Smith-Doerr, L (1994) Networks and economic life, in Smelner, NJ and Swedber, R (Eds) The handbook of economic sociology, pp368–402, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ.Google Scholar
Robison, L, Schmid, L and Siles, M (2002) Is social capital really capital? Review of Social Economy 50(1): 1–21.Google Scholar
Ruzzier, M and Antoncic, B (2007) Social capital and SME internationalization: an empirical examination, Transformations in Business & Economics 6(1): 122–138.Google Scholar
Ruzzier, M, Antoncic, B and Konecnik, M (2006) The resource-based approach to the internationalisation of SMEs: Differences in resource bundles between internationalised and non-internationalised companies, Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business 9(2): 95–116.Google Scholar
Singh, RP, Hills, GE, Lumpkin, GT and Hybels, RC (1999) The entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process: examining the role of self-perceived alertness and social networks. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago IL.Google Scholar
Skerlavaj, M and Dimovski, V (2006) Social network approach to organizational learning, Journal of Applied Business Resources 22(2): 89–97.Google Scholar
Skerlavaj, M, Indihar, SM, Skrinjar, R and Dimovski, V (2007) Organizational learning culture - the missing link between business process change and organizational performance, International Journal of Productive Economics 106(2): 346–367.Google Scholar
Starr, JA and MacMillan, IC (1990) Resource cooptation via social contracting: resource acquisition strategies for new ventures, Strategic Management Journal 11: 79–92.Google Scholar
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Accessed at http://www.stat.si/pxweb/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=1418801S&ti=Podjetja+po+dejavnosti+%28C%2DK%29+in+velikosti+glede+na+%9Atevilo+oseb%2C+ki+delajo%2C+Slovenija%2C+letno&path=../Database/Ekonomsko/14_poslovni_subjekti/01_l4l88_podjetja/&lang=2) on 20 03.2008.Google Scholar
Tomc, J and Antoncic, B (2007) Erazem B. Pintar, in Antoncic, et al. (Eds) Primeri iz podjetnistva: Ustanavljanje, rast in razvoj podjetja, pp47–61, Drustvo za akademske in aplikativne raziskave Koper, Slovenia.Google Scholar
Watson, J (2007) Modeling the relationship between networking and firm performance, Journal of Business Venturing 22: 852–874.Google Scholar
Zhao, L and Aram, JD (1995) Networking and growth of young technology-intensive ventures in China, Journal of Business Venturing 10: 349–370.Google Scholar
Zupan, N and Kase, R (2007) The role of HR actors in knowledge networks, International Journal of Manpower 28(3/4): 243–259.Google Scholar