Contributions of Social Capital Theory to HRM
Global Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications
Résumé
The philosophic premises of the social capital theory (SCT) number centuries of years. However, the term itself became explicit only in the second half of the 20th century. Emerged as a theoretical framework in sociology, it was soon adopted by community studies and management sciences. The concept of social capital (SC) has been criticized for recycling well-known fundamental theories and propounding a common sense truth. At the same time, more and more numerous testimonies stand for its recognition as a persuasive explanatory framework for various human resources (HR)-related issues. The present article outlines theoretical discussions around the SCT, as well as its quantifiability and contribution to the further improvement of human resources management (HRM).