Entrepreneurs’ social capital in struggles within market field

Abstract

By understanding social capital as a link between the concept of social embeddedness and networking, this paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the high-tech entrepreneurship process as a socially situated and influenced practice. Through in-depth examination of Croatian entrepreneurs in the software industry, we address the issues of which manifestations of social capital are significant in certain aspects of the entrepreneurial process and how entrepreneurs mobilize them in the competition for economic and other valuable resources on the “social stage”. In terms of methodology, the research uses techniques and procedures of the constructivist grounded theory. Empirical data were collected through in-depth face-to-face interviews with 77 respondents from 70 Croatian companies and a search of relevant secondary data sources. The analysis of the empirical material was carried out using initial, focused and axial coding techniques, accompanied by theoretical sampling and the application of the constant comparison method. Results of the research, articulated by the conceptual tool of Bourdieu's theory, show that social capital is manifested in a wide range of network formations and such network is modified by the development progress of the company. In general, a rich reservoir of social capital facilitates the entrepreneur's search for financial resources and supports the construction of a base of cultural and symbolic capital, with informal networks and acquaintances of entrepreneurs standing out for their ease of conversion to other forms of capital.