مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

 مجله مدیریت خرید و تامین – Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management

Interorganizational relationships are generally considered an important source for competitive advantage and value creation (e.g. Osborn et al., 1997; Krause et al., 2007). Social Capital Theory emphasizes the role of a firm’s social network for gaining competitive advantage (Carey et al., 2011; Koka and Prescott, 2008). Social capital has been defined as the sum of resources embedded within and derived from a network of relationships (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Granovetter, 1992). Social Capital Theory has become a useful theoretical lens for examining buyer-supplier relationships. McGrath et al. (2005) have investigated how social capital might contribute to mutual benefits for both parties within buyer-supplier relationships. Other studies have examined the effects of social capital on different performance measures (Krause et al., 2007). Nahapiet et al. (1998) proposed three dimensions of social capital: the cognitive dimension (shared ambition, vision, and values), the relational dimension (trust, identification, and obligation), and the structural dimension (strength and number of ties between actors).

Most studies expected and investigated the positive effects of social capital. An exception is the study of Villena et al. (2011) who studied the ‘dark side’ of social capital in buyer-supplier relationships. They concluded that excessive levels of social capital could lead to a decrease in performance for both parties. Most prior research has only examined the influence of one or two social capital dimensions on performance (cf. Carey et al., 2011). Some researchers have focused on the effect of relational capital (e.g. Cousins et al., 2006; Walker et al., 1997), others on the effects of relational and structural capital (e.g. Lawson et al., 2008; Moran, 2005). We investigate the effects of the three dimensions of social capital on performance (cf. Krause et al., 2007).

Many scholars have emphasized the need for quantitative approaches to empirical studies on social capital in general (e.g. Meehan and Bryde, 2014). Most empirical studies on social capital however, are carried out from the buyer’s perspective. Few studies were set up to investigate social capital from a suppliers’ perspective. Johnson et al. (2013) explored the impact of social capital on the capabilities for supply network resilience. Their study provides an illustration of the links between resilience and social capital in the context of a crisis response. Lee (2015) investigated the effects of green supply chain management on supplier performance through social capital accumulation. A recent conceptual study by Schiele et al. (2015) emphasized the link between social capital and supplier satisfaction, also from a supplier perspective. The limited number of studies from the supplier perspective warrants further investigation.