Social Capital in Energy Enterprises: Poland’s Case

Elżbieta Jędrych,Dariusz Klimek,Agnieszka Rzepka

doi:10.3390/en15020546

Elżbieta Jędrych, Dariusz Klimek + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020546

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Abstract

Social capital is currently perceived as one of the basic factors of economic development and economic success of enterprises. However, while there is already much research on social capital in enterprises, there has been little such research in the energy industry. The aim of the publication is to fill the gap in this regard. The basic question that the authors try to answer is whether there is a higher level of capital in energy companies compared to other industries, and if so, what the reasons are for this. Apart from answering this question, the authors present their own method of measuring the level of this capital. The first part of the article presents the results of a study on the level of social capital in Polish energy companies, whereas the second part compares the levels of social capital in energy companies and industrial companies in other sectors. According to the study, energy companies generally have higher levels of social capital than companies in other industries. It has been found, however, that individual forms of capital that comprise social capital differ. The most significant differences were observed in relational capital, followed by cognitive capital at a lower value and structural capital at the lowest. The survey also revealed that there is a difference in social capital levels among the researched professional groups: management, administration, and production.

Highlights

Faculty of Business and International Relations, Vistula University, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland; Faculty of Management and Production Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
The first stage was the development of a research tool and its verification (Section 2); The second stage was the study of the level of social capital in enterprises not belonging to the energy industry (Section 3.2); The third stage was to measure the level of social capital in 4 energy companies (Section 3.1); The fourth stage was the comparison of the results in energy companies and other enterprises, statistical analysis of the results, and development of conclusions
The study was conducted in 2021 in four energy companies, two of which belong to Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A. (PKN ORLEN), and two of which belong to Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. (PGNiG S.A.)

Summary

Introduction

Faculty of Business and International Relations, Vistula University, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland; Faculty of Management and Production Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Lodz, Poland. One of the main problems in social and economic sciences has been social capital, as well as related business practices in many countries It has been mentioned as the factor that helps in significant ways to develop the economic and social structure. The importance of vision, determination, and technical capabilities suggests that social and human capital resources within community energy leadership are of paramount importance, both for the development of groups and of the sector more broadly. This is confirmed by the results of research on social capital in Europe and around the world, their number is not large [1]

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