A Research On Enterprise’s Social Capital

In the background of economic globalization and information network, thesource of enterprise’s value added has greatly changed. The enterprise hasincreasingly focused on the handling of its relations with stakeholders to create valuefor itself. Therefore, a new form of capital apears, that is enterprise’s social capital.Under the guidance of the stakeholder theory, this paper has carried out a systematicresearch about the enterprise’s social capital in order to achieve positive interactionsbetween equity capital and social capital of the enterprise. Based on this, this researchcan provide a new perspective for enterprise’s value creation and an effective adviceof enterprise’s management.This paper has done the research along the literature reviews at home and abroad-theoretical basis of the research-the nature of enterprise’s social capital-theformation mechanism of enterprise’s social capital-the function mechanism ofenterprise’s social capital-the effect of corporate social capital on enterprise’s valuecreation–the development and utilization of enterprise’s social capital. Because thecorporate boundary is consisted of internal stakeholders, enterprise’s social capital isprovided by external stakeholders. First, according to the composition of enterprise’sexternal stakeholders, this paper makes a research on the classification of enterprise’ssocial capital and attributes to the nature and the elements of enterprise’s social capital.Second, this paper builds a theoretical model of enterprise’s social capital. In addition,use the infinitely repeated game model under incomplete information and thereputation model under incomplete information conditions to analyze the formationmechanism of enterprise’s social capital. Again, according to the different dimensionsof corporate social capital, select the appropriate metrics and use the factor analysismethod to get enterprise’s social capital index. Based on this, test the effect ofenterprise’s social capital on enterprise’s value creation through the construction of theempirical model. Finally, the paper has proposed a series of effective strategies aboutthe development and utilization of enterprise’s social capital based on the status of enterprise’s social capital to maximize the value added effect of enterprise’s socialcapital.The main conclusions are as follows:First, the nature of the enterprise is a collective choice of stakeholders. Theconfiguration of the enterprise’s ownership is the result of collective choice ofstakeholders. The differences of internal stakeholders involved in the enterprisecollective choice (the right to have ownership of the enterprise) have led to thedifference of the enterprise’s equity capital. Although external stakeholders can’tdirectly participate in the collective choice, the enterprise’s activities will produce adirect impact on their interests. Therefore, the differences of external stakeholdersdetermine the differences of enterprise’s social capital. The objectives of theenterprise’s social capital should be the unification of enterprise’s value and socialvalue. This goal can be achieved only through coordination and cooperation betweenthe enterprise and its external stakeholders.Second, the capital in modern sense has double properties. From the aspect of itsnatural properties, all resources that can bring value added to the enterprise should becalled the capital, regardless of their physical form or non-material form. From theaspect of social attributes, internal stakeholders and external stakeholders arecooperative partnerships based on common interests in the current social context,whose ultimate goals are consistent. The special attributes of enterprise’s social capitalis mainly reflected in its social relationships network between the enterprise and theexternal stakeholders outside the enterprise’s borders. Compared to other types ofcapital, enterprise’s social capital has some special attributes, such as: adhesive,reciprocity, belonging to the public, recycling, uncertainties and be difficult to observeand measure.Third, the classification of enterprise’s social capital should be determined by thecomposition of its external stakeholders. According to the diversity and dynamicnature of external stakeholders, the specific classification of enterprise’s social capitaltakes many forms.Fourth, the enterprise’s social capital has gradually formed through the repeated game in the long-term process of cooperation between the enterprise and its externalstakeholders. Trust mechanisms and reputation mechanisms are important drivingforces of the formation of enterprise’s social capital. The paper has revealed thedynamic evolution of the cooperative relations from the low-level to high-levelbetween the enterprise and its external stakeholders through the theoretical model.And then, use the infinitely repeated game model under the conditions of completeinformation and the reputation model (KMRW) under the conditions of incompleteinformation to analyze the formation of core elements of social capital-trustmechanisms and reputation mechanisms.Fifth, the enterprise’s social capital can achieve the effectiveness of valuecreation through the fulfillment of the contract, the acquisition and integration ofresources, the reduction of transaction cost, the technological innovation, and theinnovation of business model. And select listed companies of the real estate industryfrom the year2007to2010issuing A shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen stockexchange to do an empirical research. On the basis of measuring different types ofenterprise’s social capital, build a comprehensive and detailed index system ofenterprise’s social capital measurement. This empirical study has confirmed the theimpact of different types of enterprise’s social capital (e.g. government-enterpriserelationship capital, bank-enterprise relationship capital, supplier relationship capital,customer relationship capital, competitor relationship capital, managers relationshipcapital, employee relationship capital and community relations capital) and compositeindex of enterprise’s social capital on enterprise’s value creation.Sixth, enterprise’s social capital requires the construction and maintenance fromthe long-term. The enterprise should make the positive development and utilization ofenterprise’s social capital and effectively prevent the potential risks of enterprise’ssocial capital. Only through this, can the enterprise fully realize the effectiveness ofits value added, and then promote the implementation of enterprise’s strategicobjectives.The main innovations of this paper are as follows:First, this paper has advanced the concept reconstruction and reclassification of enterprise’s social capital from a perspective of the stakeholder theory. Under theguidance of the stakeholder theory, give a clear definition of the boundaries betweenenterprise and society. And then, give a clear division of the equity capital and socialcapital. This paper has pointed out that the goal of enterprise’s social capital should bethe unification of enterprise’s value and social value. In addtion, make thereclassification of enterprise’s social capital from a stakeholder perspective, which ismainly determined by the composition of external stakeholders. Because stakeholdersevolved in the collective choice of enterprise are not static, the compositions ofexternal stakeholders are constantly changing. In summary, the differences of externalstakeholders determine the differences of enterprise’s social capitalSecond, make an innovative interpretation of the nature of enterprise’s socialcapital. Make the inheritance and innovation of Marx’s capital theory combining theeconomic and social background, that is economic globalization, intellectual capitaland the modular production. This paper has made a comprehensive and in-depthinterpretation of capital’s dual attributes (natural attributes and social attributes)attributing to the the basic properties of enterprise’s social capital. And then, reveal thespecial attributes of enterprise’s social capital through the comparative analysis amongenterprise’s physical capital, human capital and social capital.Third, reveal the dynamic evolution mechanism of the formation of enterprise’ssocial capital. On the basis of introduction to community of interests, build thetheoretical model about the formation of enterprise’s social capital. And then, use theinfinitely repeated game model under the conditions of complete information and thereputation model (KMRW) under the conditions of incomplete information to analyzethe formation of core elements of social capital-trust mechanisms and reputationmechanisms. Make an in-depth interpretation about the formation mechanism of theenterprise’s social capital.Fourth, make in-depth analysis how different categories of enterprise’s socialcapital can directly access and integrate other resources beyond the boundaries of theenterprise through different pathways from the perspective of the alliance. Andfurther, the paper has analyzed how the different types of enterprise’s social capital influence each other to produce an indirect effect on the acquisition and integration ofother resources.