Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T13:30:30.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Reach and Influence of Social Capital for Career Advancement and Firm Development Elite Managers and Russia's Exit from Socialism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

David O'Brien ,
Li Zong  and
Harley Dickinson
David O'Brien
Affiliation:
International Development Research Centre, Canada
Li Zong
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Harley Dickinson
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The initiation of market liberalization resulted in a sharp decline in economic output and market disorganization across the former Soviet Union. Inadequate physical, financial, and human capital are among the explanations for the slow pace of enterprise restructuring and market development. The role of social networks, however, is less understood. Using survey data from a management-training programme in Russia, we examine the effects of entrepreneurial networks on both individual's professional advancement and firm's business development. We find that their participation in work-and association-based social networks varied and differentially affected outcomes at the individual and firm levels. We conclude that active participation in social capital networks catalyses returns on investments in human capital. Implications of this study for research on Chinese social networks are discussed.

Keywords

business groupsfirm developmenthuman capitalmanagersRussiasocial networks商业集团公司发展人力资本经理人俄罗斯社会网络
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 2011 , pp. 303 - 327
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arrow, K. 2000. Observations on social capital. In Dasgupta, P. & Serageldin, I. (Eds.), Social capital: A multifaceted perspective: 3–5. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Batjargal, B. 2003. Social capital and entrepreneurial performance in Russia: A longitudinal study. Organization Studies, 24(4): 535–556.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. 1964. Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysts. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Berger, M., Earle, J., & Sabirianova, K. 2000. Worker training in a restructuring economy: Evidence from the Russian transition. William Davidson Institute Working Paper Series, No. 331.Google Scholar
Blanchard, O., & Kremer, M. 1997. Disorganization. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4): 1091–1126.Google Scholar
Bonneil, V., & Gold, T. B. (Eds.). 2002. The new entrepreneurs of Europe and Asia. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Burawoy, M. 1996. The state of economic involution: Russia through a China lens. World Development, 24(6): 1105–1117.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. 1988. Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94: S95–S120.Google Scholar
Cook, T., & Campbell, D. 1979. Quasi-experitnentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings, Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
EBRD. 2009. Transition report 2009: Transition in crisis?. London: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.Google Scholar
Fan, Q., Lee, U., & Schaffer, M. 1996. Firms, banks, and credit in Russia. In Commander, S., Fan, Q. & M, Schaffer (Eds.), Enterprise restructuring and economic policy in Russia: 140–165. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Fligstein, N., & Zhang, J. 2011. A new agenda for research on the trajectory of Chinese capitalism. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 39–62.Google Scholar
Gargiulo, M., & Rus, A. 2002. Access and mobilization: Social capital and top management response to market shocks. INSEAD R&D Working Papers.Google Scholar
Gerber, T. 2000. Membership benefits or selection effects? Why former Communist Party members do better in post-Soviet Russia. Social Science Research, 29: 25–50.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. 1973. The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6): 1360–1380.Google Scholar
Gurkov, I. 1997. Management development in Russia. International Labour Organization Interdepartmental Action Programme on Privatization, Restructuring and Economic Democracy No. 3.Google Scholar
Healy, T., & Côté, S. 2001. The well-heing of nations: The role of human and social capital. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.Google Scholar
Helliwell, J. F. 2001. Social capital, the economy and well-being. In Banting, K., Sharpe, A. & St-Hilare, F. (Eds.), The review of economic performance and social progress: 43–59. Montreal: McGill-Qiieen's University Press.Google Scholar
Hoffman, D. 2001. The oligarchs: Wealth and power in the new Russia. New York: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Hollingsworth, J. R., & Boyer, R. (Eds.). 1997. Contemporary capitalism: The embeddedness of institutions. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Knack, S., & Keefer, P. 1997. Does social capital have an economic payoffs? A cross-county investigation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4): 1251–1288.Google Scholar
Kuznetsov, Y. 1997. Learning in networks: Enterprise behaviour in the former Soviet Union and contemporary Russia. In Nelson, J., Tilly, C. & Walker, L. (Eds.), Transforming postcommunist political economies: 156–176. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Ledeneva, A. 1998. Russia's economy of favours: Blat, networking and informal exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lengyel, G. 2002. Social capital and entrepreneurial success: Hungarian small enterprises between 1993 and 1996. In Bonnell, V. & Gold, T. B. (Eds.), The new entrepreneurs of Europe and Asia: 256–277. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Li, S. K., Yao, X., Sue-Chan, C., & Xi, Y. 2011. Where do social ties come from: Institutional framework and governmental Tie distribution among Chinese managers. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 97–124.Google Scholar
Lin, N. 2002. Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lin, N. 2011. Capitalism in China: A centrally managed capitalism (CMC) and its future. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 63–96.Google Scholar
Lokshin, M., & Yemstov, R. 2001. Household strategies for coping -with poverty and social exclusion in post-crisis Russia. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, no. 2556.Google Scholar
Longenecker, C. O. 2001. Why managers fail in post-soviet Russia: Causes and lessons. European Business Revievu, 13(2): 101–108.Google Scholar
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. 1998. Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2): 242–266.Google Scholar
Nee, V. 1989. A theory of market transition: From redistribution to markets in state socialism. American Sociological Review, 54(5): 663–681.Google Scholar
Nellis, J. 2002. The World Bank, privatization and enterprise reform in transition economies: A retrospective analysis. World Bank Operations Evaluation Department Working Paper Series, no. 23737.Google Scholar
Olson, M. 1982. The rise and decline of nations. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Petkoski, D. 2002. Learning together with clients: Private sector development training and consulting in economies in transition. Washington, DC: World Bank Institute.Google Scholar
Platteau, J. P. 1994. Behind the market stage where real societies exist – part 1: The role of public and private order institutions. The Journal of Development Studies, 30: 533–577.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. 1993a. The prosperous community. The American Prospect, 4(13): 35–42.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. 1993b. Making democracy work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Pyle, W. 2006. Collective action and post-communist enterprise: The economic logic of Russia's business associations. Europe-Asia Studies, 58(4): 491–521.Google Scholar
Raiser, M. 1997. Informal institutions, social capital and economic transition: Reflections on a neglected dimension. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Working Paper Series, no. 25.Google Scholar
Recanatini, F., & Ryterman, R. 2001. Disorganization or self-organization: The emergence of business associations in a transition economy. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Serics, no. 2539.Google Scholar
Schröder, H. H. 2000. The ‘oligarchs’: A force to reckon with? In S, Harter & Easter, G. (Eds.), Shaping the economic space: 50–64. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Schultz, T. 1962. Reflections on investment in man. The Journal of Political Economy, 70: 1–8.Google Scholar
Sedaitis, J. 1997. Network dynamics of new firm foundations: Developing Russian commodity markets. In Grabber, G. & Stark, D. (Eds.), Restructuring networks in post-socialism: Legacies, linkages and localities: 137–157. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Solow, R. 2000. Notes on social capital and economic performance. In Dasgupta, P. & Seragddin, I. (Eds.), Social capital: A multifaceted perspective: 6–12. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Stark, D. 1986. Rethinking internal labor markets: New insights from a comparative perspective. American Sociological Review, 51: 492–504.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, J. 1999. Whither reform? Ten, years of the transition. World Bank – Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, April 28–30, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Woolcock, M. 1998. Social capital and economic development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework. Theory and Society, 27(2): 151–208.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2002. Transition: The first ten years. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Wright, M., Hoskisson, R., Filatotchev, I., & Buck, T. 1998. Revitalizing privatized Russian enterprises. The Academy of Management Executive, 12: 74–85.Google Scholar
Yiu, D., Bruton, G., & Lu, Y. 2005. Understanding business group performance in an emerging economy: Acquiring resources and capabilities in order to prosper. Journal of Management Studies, 42(1): 183–206.Google Scholar
Zhang, J., & Keh, H. T. 2010. Interorganizational exchanges in China: Organizational forms and governance mechanisms. Management and Organization Review, 6(1): 123–147.Google Scholar