Vol. 2 No. 2 (2016)
September 2016: Entrepreneurship: Antecedents and Effects

Articles

Social capital impact on entrepreneur’s innovation: A test of Chinese entrepreneurs in Italy

Published 2016-10-19

  • Yuhong Zhou

Yuhong Zhou
University of Rome

Abstract

According to the theory of Burt (2005), brokerage and closure are two main feature of social network and metaphor of social capital. The purpose of this research was to investigate how immigrate entrepreneur’s social network may affect entrepreneur’s innovation. The relationship between social capital and entrepreneur’s innovation can be mediated by trust and information diversity. These relationships are especially relevant in the case of immigrant entrepreneurs, which function in multiple groups and networks. The hypothesised relationship were examined with data from 91 Chinese entrepreneurs in Italy (Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence). This research aimed to prove the relationship between entrepreneur’s social network and innovation. This research distinguish two types of social network which are closure and structural hole, and two components of social capital which are trust and sharing diversity information. Through applying Burt’s theory about types of social network and dimensions of social capital, it show the two types of entrepreneur’s social network is all positively associated with innovation. The obtained results confirm prior hypothesis. The value added of this research is an indication that in the case of immigrant entrepreneurs social capital which derives from social networks positively impacts entrepreneur’s innovation.

Keywords

social capital, trust, tacit knowledge, innovation, Chinese entrepreneur

PDF

References

  1. Arnot, D.C. (2007). Research on trust: a bibliography and brief bibliometric analysis of the special issue submissions. European Journal of Marketing, 41(9/10), 1203-1240.
  2. Bloch, H., & Bhattacharya, M. (2016). Promotion of Innovation and Job Growth in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Australia: Evidence and Policy Issues. The Aus-tralian Economic Review, 49(2), 192-199.
  3. Bouedieu, P., & Wacquant, L. (1992). An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  4. Burt, B. (2005). Brokerage and Closure. New York: Oxford University Press.
  5. Cleveland, H. (1982). Information as a resource. The Futurist, 16(6), 34-39.
  6. Drucker, P.F. (1985). Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York: Harper & Row.
  7. Fitzsimmons, S.R. (2013). Multicultural employees: A framework for understanding how they contribute to organizations. Academy of Management Review, 38(4), 525-549.
  8. Giridharadas, A. (2010). New leaders find strength in diversity. New York Times, May 6. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/us/07iht-currents.html (06.05. 2016).
  9. Granovetter, M.S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of sociology, 78, 1360-1380.
  10. Grant, R.M., & Baden-Fuller, C. (2004). A knowledge accessing theory of strategic alli-ances. Journal of Management Studies, 41(1), 61–84.
  11. Henderson, R.M., & Clark, K.B. (1990). Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 9-30.
  12. Höhmann, H.H., & Welter, F. (Eds.) (2005). Trust and Entrepreneurship: A West-East Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  13. Lin, N. (2001), Social capital: a theory of social structure and action. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press.
  14. Milgram, S. (1967). The small world problem. Psychology Today, 22, 61-67.
  15. Nielsen, B.B., & Nielsen, S. (2009). Learning and Innovation in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test of the Role of Trust and Tacitness. Journal of Man-agement Studies, 46(6), 1031-1056.
  16. Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York: Oxford university Press.
  17. Putnam, R. (1993). Making Democracy Work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  18. Putnam, R. (2001). Social Capital: Measurement and Consequences. Canadian Journal of Policy Research, 2(1), 41-51.
  19. Rowley, J. (2007). The wisdom hierarchy: representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Jour-nal of Information Science, 33(2), 163-180.
  20. Schumpeter, JA. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle, Cambridge, MA.: Harvard Univer-sity Press.
  21. Smallbone, D., Lyon, F., & Li, X. (2005). Trust, co-operation and networking in an immi-grant business community: the case of Chinese-owned businesses in the UK. Trust and Entrepreneurship: A West-East Perspective, 235.
  22. United Nations Statistics Division(2011). UNSD demographic statistics. Retrieved from: http://data.un.org (11.04.2012).
  23. Wong, P.L.K., & Ellis, P. (2002). Social ties and partner identification in Sino-Hong Kong international joint ventures. Journal of International business studies, 33(2), 267-289.
  24. Zaltman, G., Duncan, R., & Holbek, J. (1973). Innovations and Organizations. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 171

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.