Understanding the role of social capital in inter-firm cooperation capacity of family business: an analysis of the relational dimension

Abstract

In strategic management, the field of research into inter-organizational cooperative relationships and social capital in family businesses remains little explored. There is an abundance of work mobilizing the concept of social capital, but there is little research on this construct in the family business model in general, and in the Moroccan context in particular. The aim of this work is to understand the role of relational social capital (trust, norms/expectations, obligations/sanctions and identification), with reference to Nahapiet and ghoshal's (1998) model, in the ability to adopt, commit to and seize opportunities arising from inter-firm cooperative relationships in family businesses (partnerships, alliances, subcontracting, etc.), as a form of openness in this type of business. In order to provide some answers, conceptual and theoretical benchmarks are first put in place. We have mobilized the theory of social capital (P. Bourdieu, 1980; J, Coleman, 1990; R. Putnam, 1993) and the resource-based approach, focusing more on the work of Arregle et al. (2007) and Pearson et al. (2008). Data was collected through the administration of semi-directive interview guides. The results of our research show that the relational social capital of the family business constitutes an original source of a typically family competitive advantage, a source of reputation enhancements, as well as a social mechanism of governance both internally and externally (cooperative relationships) of the family business.

Keywords: Family business, social capital, relational social capital, inter-firms cooperation.

Classification JEL : M19

Paper type: Empirical Research