Social Capital in Business

Edited by the late Kenneth W. Koput, formerly Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona and Joseph P. Broschak, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, US

Innovative social investments are key to succeeding in the increasingly connected business environment. Within this authoritative volume, the editors have brought together seminal works which will help managers and entrepreneurs to better understand how to forge investments in social relationships to match the unique needs and circumstances of their business. Rather than comprising a social capital menu from which businesses can order by mimicking others, the selected articles in this volume provide a foundation to grasp the social mechanisms at work in the generation and use of social capital. This important collection provides both scholarly and lay readers an opportunity to weigh the evidence of social capital’s limits as well as its promise.

‘Koput and Broschak have brought together in one place the key resources with which anyone interested in social capital, in all of its varieties, should be familiar. The introductory chapter is a comprehensive yet accessible primer on the formation, deployment, and consequences of social capital at multiple levels of analysis and also provides a clear agenda for future research. This volume is a “must have” for anyone working on social capital or related topics.’
– Alison Davis-Blake, University of Minnesota, US

‘This volume collects foundational empirical papers that develop the concept of social capital, including studies of job search, team composition and inter-organizational collaboration. The collection is graced by a thoughtful introductory essay that explores both the strengths and limitations of the social capital concept.’
– Walter W. Powell, Stanford University, US