Relational governance processes in social entrepreneurship ecosystems: the role of social capital

The social entrepreneurship ecosystem is an innovation system composed of multiple stakeholders, linked by social responsibility, based on cooperation and symbiosis, and aimed at resource complementarity. In this system, social leading enterprises serve as the core force, and the optimization of their partners is crucial for the stability and development of the entire system. This article aims to explore the optimization selection methods of social leading enterprise partners in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem, in order to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. This article takes the entrepreneurial ecosystem as the background to explore the growth process and self-organizing evolution mechanism of social enterprises. Based on the social enterprise growth model, this paper analyzes the different stages of social enterprise growth in entrepreneurial ecosystems to varying degrees, proposes a self-organizing evolution model, and proves that the selection of social enterprise partners in entrepreneurial ecosystems has an impact on the self-organizing evolution of social enterprises. It has the characteristics of self-renewal, self adaptation, self catalysis, and self circulation. Research has shown that only through continuous exploration and bold innovation, a favorable external environment, and the benign interaction of various elements within the system can a sustainable and relatively mature social entrepreneurship ecosystem be constructed.

The article examines the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship, its players and identifies its types. The topics of ecosystem and ecosystems of social entrepreneurship are studied in various scientific and literary sources. It has been established, the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship has rarely been the subject of ecosystem studies. Based on the analysis of ecosystems in the international context, the main problems of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ukraine have been identified. The social entrepreneurship ecosystem is a comprehensive tool for supporting social enterprises and social initiatives that aim to solve social problems and improve the quality of people’s lives. The ecosystem formula is a triangle that combines local government, community, and business into a coherent network to support and promote the growth of social enterprises. Ecosystem logic allows us to maintain the required level of innovation and not lose our position in the competitive market. Depending on the key players and elements, the social entrepreneurship ecosystem can be typed through certain components. 7 different types of social entrepreneurship ecosystem and their brief characteristics are presented in this article. In the study, we analysed ecosystems in four countries, including Ukraine. It is found that in the studied countries there is a significant number of types of social entrepreneurship ecosystems. Most social entrepreneurship ecosystems are present in the Netherlands — six types, of which the business ecosystem is the most powerful and efficient. Canada has the most developed ecosystems, and the financial ecosystem is a priority. There are five social entrepreneurship ecosystems in Malaysia, the same as Canada, but the priority is given to the state ecosystem. So, from the experience of these countries, to develop a powerful and effective ecosystem of social entrepreneurship in Ukraine, we must take the experience of government support from Malaysia, experience in financial initiatives from Canada and experience in creating collaborations between business, private sector, and social entrepreneurs from the Netherlands. The leaders in the development of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ukraine are Ternopol and Vinnitsa, two regional centres. Obstacles to social entrepreneurship in Ukraine are lack of funding, low level of social awareness, lack of understanding on the part of society, imperfect legal regulation, and insufficient government support. It is determined that for the effective operation of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in different countries of the world, there should be assistance from the State, business, and the public, as well as improving the conditions for their activities.

PurposeBuilding social capital within buyer‐supplier relationships is often associated with high performing supply chains. However, little research has examined the mechanisms by which social capital is formed. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of relational and contractual governance mechanisms on the formation of social capital under varying levels of demand and supply uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework is developed, grounded in the literature on supply chain management and social capital theory (SCT).FindingsA series of propositions showed that relational governance leads to the formation of social capital under conditions of supply uncertainty, but is subject to opportunism when customer product demand is uncertain. By contrast, in conditions of high demand uncertainty, contractual governance is associated with social capital formation.Practical implicationsThe paper illustrates the need for managers to consider both the way in which their choice of governance mechanisms (contractual and relational) contributes to social capital, as well as highlighting the contingent nature of these mechanisms depending on the environmental context.Originality/valueThis paper is a novel contribution, applying SCT to the literature on supply chain management.

Social Entrepreneurship is a popular business model that proposes entrepreneurship to solve social and environmental problems by selling products or services. In Indonesia, the development of the number and awareness of entrepreneurs supported by the Social Entrepreneurship ecosystem is growing. However, due to the need for a unified definition of 'Social Entrepreneurship' and the slow pace of formal recognition from the government, organizations have developed with mixed practices and results. This study aims to describe the practice of Social Enterprise through the disclosure of corporate identity. Using Identity and Stakeholder Theory, this study explores the five characteristics of identity: mission, activity, governance, performance, and accountability. This multiple case study uses 10 Indonesian Social Enterprises. Data was collected through interviews and speeches in webinars coupled with documentation studies of uploaded narratives, photos, and videos on the company's official website, carried out from March to June 2023. Data analysis uses Nvivo to find themes from various Social Enterprise identity criteria groups. The results show that Social Enterprise has a unique mission and activities that carry a social value where community, empowerment, welfare and sustainability are more emphasized than profit. Institutional commitment as a Social Enterprise is proven by disclosing the impact achieved through impact reports, impact achievement profiles, SDG achievements, or articles in the news column. However, Financial performance is rarely disclosed, even though several companies have disclosed the distribution of their profits. Accountability practice in formal and informal to its stakeholder. This study provides guidelines for how companies disclose and be accountable for their identity as a Social Enterprise.

This study investigates the challenges faced by women engaged in sex work in Lusaka, Zambia, and explores the potential of social enterprises as vehicles for their economic empowerment. Drawing on both Social Capital Theory and Institutional Theory, the research employs a mixed-methods approach involving 35 in-depth interviews and regression analysis to examine the complex interplay between criminalization, socioeconomic vulnerability, and economic opportunity. Findings reveal that women in sex work face multifaceted challenges including poverty, violence, health risks, and social stigma, with 25 participants reporting experiences of violence and 15 lacking access to healthcare services. While sex work provides immediate income (1,800-2,600 Zambian Kwacha monthly), it fails to ensure long-term financial stability. The study's conceptual framework identifies legal social enterprises as an independent variable influencing three dependent variables: challenges faced by women in sex work, economic opportunities available to them, and sustainability of alternative employment. Despite limited awareness of social enterprises among participants, most perceived them as potentially beneficial pathways out of sex work. The research concludes that decriminalization of sex work (currently prohibited under Sections 146-149 of the Penal Code) coupled with well-governed social enterprises could significantly address the economic and social vulnerabilities of women in sex work. Policy recommendations include legal reform, strengthened corporate governance structures for social enterprises, comprehensive support services, and enhanced awareness and accessibility of economic alternatives.

Social enterprises have an increasingly important role lately. While connecting with different partners, social enterprises can drive growth and wealth creation beyond their organization. This value creation may derive from tangible offerings of social enterprises, their goods, and services; but also in intangible relational values. One of these intangible value creation elements is social capital with all its dimensions. Through the social capital which broadly refers to the resources accumulated through the relationships among people and organizations, social enterprises can also contribute and build partner competitive advantage. Institutional and social capital theories can help to understand how social enterprises can contribute and transform sustainable supply chains. This article introduces a framework that seeks to understand social enterprise and entrepreneurship capabilities in transforming institutions to strengthen supply chain sustainability and briefly gives some preliminary findings related to social capital and supply chains. This article relies on case analysis and seeks to understand social enterprise and entrepreneurship capabilities in transforming institutions to strengthen supply chain sustainability in order to promote sustainable fire prevention service and overcome new fire risks.

Social capital theory is a valuable theoretical framework in the field of higher education—as it has been used to examine differences in important educational outcomes based on students’ social network and the resources embedded in that network. Despite multiple well-established methods proposed by seminal researchers, there is limited synthesis of how to assess social capital, perpetuating inconsistent findings and evidence for educational interventions. The aim of the study is to evaluate quantitative social capital assessments, based on survey design and operationalized measures, and recommend methods, operationalized measures and assessment instruments for social capital. Using seven educational databases and Web of Science, we reviewed 93 English language, quantitative studies from peer-reviewed journals, published from 1980 to 2022; to be included, studies had to measure the social capital of students entering and currently in undergraduate studies. Results from the 93 articles revealed that generators (18 papers), social network analysis (5 papers), and standard Likert measures (80 papers) were commonly used to assess social capital. Standard Likert measures, while most common, were rarely aligned with social capital theory, reducing the validity of the measures. Results also showed that operationalizations of social capital were heavily rooted in social network theory, where social capital is accessed through social networks (86 papers) and actions from alters (65 papers) in the students’ network. However, direct measures of social capital—that is, network characteristics, access to supports, and seminal definitions of trust and community—were less common. This study provides important consensus and recommendations for researchers to select assessment instruments appropriate for their study and rooted in principles of assessment validity. We recommend researchers select survey methods (e.g., social capital generators) and operationalizations (e.g., actions from alters) that are well aligned with social capital theory. Assessment instruments designed using strong theoretical frameworks, such as Lin’s network theory of social capital, add to the validity of the researchers’ instrument design, use and interpretation of the students’ social capital scores.

The use of design, specifically collaborative design in social entrepreneurial initiatives, is still ill-defined. Social entrepreneurship ecosystems comprise multiple actors that negotiate resources and information to generate social impact. The negotiation of these resources and information is supported by utilising boundary objects that act as mediators of further collaboration among different social worlds or communities of practices. This paper aims to unveil the collaborative design practices that social entrepreneurs utilise to negotiate resources and information with other ecosystem actors. This paper describes the early stages of a Chilean social enterprise participating in an incubation programme through a longitudinal qualitative study. The empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews shows how this organisation negotiate their business idea and their proposals with the business incubator and their beneficiary communities. The findings show that the organisation’s business model and collaborative workshops acted as negotiating boundary artefacts that enabled collaboration with the business incubator and communities. This analysis allows eliciting the role that collaborative design practices play in creating these artefacts to align different interests of the ecosystem actors and generate social impact.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of two typical relationship management approaches (trust relationship with suppliers and reciprocity) on manufacturer resilience in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, this paper aims to deepen the understanding of environmental uncertainty's moderating effect on the association between the trust relationship with suppliers (TRS) and reciprocity.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling has been used to test the hypotheses on 361 Chinese manufacturing firms' managers and independent directors during the COVID-19 crisis.FindingsThe results reveal that reciprocity positively enhances three dimensions of manufacturer resilience, namely, preparedness, responsiveness and recovery capability. Reciprocity positively mediates the relationships between TRS and preparedness, responsiveness and recovery capability. Moreover, environmental uncertainty moderates the association between TRS and reciprocity.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the critical role of reciprocity, the relational governance approach, in enhancing manufacturer resilience in practice. This paper suggests that during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, managers should adopt trust and reciprocity in supplier relationship governance to strengthen the resilience of manufacturing companies and adapt effective strategies according to the environment.Originality/valueThis study is unique in developing new scales of manufacturer resilience through interviews and surveys with Chinese manufacturers and theoretical research. Based on the social capital theory and social exchange theory, this study shed light on the role of trust and reciprocity. It also bridges relational governance theory with the literature on manufacturing firm resilience literature to help manufacturers better understand the transdisciplinary links between relationship management and resilient operations in emergencies.

PurposeAlthough health question-and-answer (Q&A) communities have become popular in recent years, only a few communities have successfully retained and motivated their members to share knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the ways by which social capital and motivation influence knowledge sharing intention from the perspectives of health professionals and normal users in health Q&A communities.Design/methodology/approachThe developed theoretical model integrates individual motivation and social capital theories. On the basis of a sample comprising 363 members from health Q&A communities in China, the authors tested the hypotheses by using structural equation modeling.FindingsThis study empirically finds that social capital positively affects intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which then positively influence the intention of health professionals and normal users to share knowledge. Motivations of members fully mediate the effects of social capital on knowledge sharing intention. Specifically, intrinsic motivation influences knowledge sharing intention more for health professionals than for normal users, whereas extrinsic motivation influences knowledge sharing intention more for normal users than for health professionals.Originality/valueThis study explores the factors that affect the intentions of sharing knowledge in health Q&A communities by integrating social capital and motivation theories. Individual motivations can then bridge social capital and knowledge sharing intention. The effects of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of two user types were further examined and compared. These findings can extend the understanding of the underlying drivers of intention to share knowledge in the context of e-health.

Social capital concepts and theories have brought about an evolution of thinking in the field of economics and expanded the boundaries that traditionally separated economics and other social science disciplines. Traditional (e.g., neoclassical) economics with its relatively undersocialized view of human nature—where individuals are seen as autonomous, rational decision makers—has had to develop new ways of understanding how “the social” influences affect economic behavior. Much of the theorizing around social capital has actually evolved from disciplines outside of economics, which has led to a truly multidisciplinary and evolving theoretical base. This article examines the most highly cited social capital theories, identifies their economic foundations, and analyzes how economic theories have been incorporated into the development of alternative social capital theories. It is then examine how heterodox economics might potentially influence HRD and suggest that a more nuanced understanding of the theoretical foundations of social capital will generate better and more diverse HRD theories and practices.

This article is concerned with social capital as the concept has been used to further the analysis of political life. Its substantive focus is the work of Robert Putnam and his part in the revival of a civic conception of democracy. The article suggests two strategies for analysing the relationship between social capital theory and conceptions of liberal-democratic government. In the first section the concept of social capital is interrogated in terms of its political imagination. This is pursued by way of a comparison of the assumptions and norms of social capital and political culture theory - the latter being a perspective that shaped post-war political analysis. The second part of the article situates social capital in relation to the Foucauldian literature on government. It asks how we might see social capital in terms of a new kind of territorialization of socio-political relations.

Futnam’s 'social capital theory’ goes east: a case study of Western Ukraine and L'vivThe article is an attempt to probe Putnam’s ”social capital theory” using a case study approach to the analysis of democratisation in post-socialist societies. For this purpose Western Ukraine and more specifically the city of L'viv during the first years of independent statehood is analysed by help of available survey data, focus group discussions and deep interviews. It is argued that while political culture and social capital do play an important part in the former socialist states, Putnam ’s definition of social capital needs to be critically examined and in part re-interpreted. Public life in these countries are mostly associated with the type of ’non-communitarian’ social capital Putnam found in Southern Italy, deriving mainly from negative experiences from state socialist institutions. However, contrary to Putnam’s argument, lack of trust in formal institutions is not due primarily to difficulties to implement sanctions in the particularistic and vertical networks from which non-communitarian social capital is built. The exchange relations that constitute the backbone of communitarian and non-communitarian social capital respectively draw on two different modes of reducing social transaction costs. It is hypothesised that it is this difference rather than implementation of sanctions as such that is the key to the problem and that it is above all the mode of reducing social transaction costs typical to non-communitarian social capital which impedes the building of trust in formal institutions. Furthermore non-communitarian social capital still in many respects continue to represent a more efficient tool for practical problem solving compared to formal institutions. It is concluded that these two features increases the importance of institutional design and third-party enforcement rather than diminishing the role such factors play to successful democratisation.

This study investigates the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in strengthening social entrepreneurship ecosystems in Malang Raya, Indonesia. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-method design, quantitative data were collected from 100–150 respondents representing key ecosystem actors, including faculty members, students, social entrepreneurs, supporting institutions, and government stakeholders. Quantitative data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with LISREL software, while qualitative data from 15–25 key informants were analyzed thematically through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGD). The study integrates Resource-Based View (RBV), Triple Helix Model, and Social Capital Theory to develop a comprehensive framework. Findings demonstrate that HEIs significantly influence ecosystem sustainability, although some relationships show non-significant effects due to external factors and institutional readiness. The study recommends implementing collaborative strategies based on the triple helix model and strengthening social capital to enhance the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. This research contributes to advancing community-based entrepreneurship theory and provides practical implications for policymakers and institutional leaders in Indonesia.

Effects of social capital on academic success: A narrative synthesis