SOCIAL CAPITAL IN COOPERATIVES: A TYPOLOGY AND INFLUENCE ON PERFORMANCE

One of the distinctive characteristics ofcooperatives is their social capital. This article contributesto the literature by proposing a classification ofcooperatives according to their social capital: internalsocial networks (relationships between their members,and between their members and their ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economics & sociology 2023-10, Vol.16 (4), p.155-177
Main Authors: García-Pérez, Ana María, Román-Cervantes, Cándido, González-Dávila, Enrique, Yanes-Estévez, Vanessa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business Economy / Management
Classification
Competition
Competitive advantage
Consumers
Cooperatives
Management and complex organizations
Social capital
Social networks
Socio-Economic Research
Strategic management
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Summary:One of the distinctive characteristics ofcooperatives is their social capital. This article contributesto the literature by proposing a classification ofcooperatives according to their social capital: internalsocial networks (relationships between their members,and between their members and their managers) and/orexternal social networks (relationships with customers,other cooperatives, institutions etc.).The sample comprised managers from 50 agrifoodcooperatives located in the Canary Islands (Spain) whoanswered a questionnaire designed on the basis of theexisting literature. Descriptive statistics such as means andnon-parametric test (Pearson's Chi-square test) were usedto process the information.The largest group of cooperatives developed stronginternal and external social networks (i.e., a broad socialnetwork). The second group was the opposite: socialnetworks were weak internally as well as externally (theso-called narrow social network). The results also showedthat when cooperatives developed only one type ofnetwork, they focused on a strong internal network(asymmetric internal social network).The only difference in the performance of cooperativesdepending on their social network was observed incooperatives with an asymmetric external social network.Such cooperatives had a better public image than theircompetitors.
ISSN:2071-789X
2306-3459
DOI:10.14254/2071789X.2023/16-4/7