The Importance of Social Capital in the VUCA Environment

Abstract

AbstractSocial Capital represents one of the vital constituents of social innovations because it represents one of the drivers of disruptive innovations.Especially in the COVID-19 lockdown phase, social capital secured new business and the competitive edge of global organizations facing fierce price battles, declining sales, and narrowing margins. For example, social capital enhances business processes through trust and mutual values and mitigates the risk of failure. Moreover, it reduces their duration and impacts performance.The definition of social capital as the goodwill established in social networks resulting in sharing information and strengthening relationships is just the beginning. In B2B, identifying and accumulating business-critical contacts digitally can expedite passing through the RFI/RFP (request for information/proposal) phase, get short-listed, and eventually, win new business ahead of competitors. This chapter highlights the importance of social capital among social innovations and provides valuable guidelines for academics and practitioners.