MANAGING SOCIAL CAPITAL – A CONCEPT FOR CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Abstract

We live in a world of ever faster, more dramatic, more
complex and more unpredictable changes. Technological, marketeconomic, political, social and global factors all affect the
acceleration of these changes, as well as the shaping of the theory and
practice of economics and management. The concept of “managing
social capital” is increasingly becoming an important concept for
creating a competitive advantage in new economics and management.
Nowadays, numerous organizations are trying to change their attitude
towards social capital and – in accordance with that - direct a
significant part of their activities towards quality management. This
paper presents the basic elements and connectedness between
managing social capital and competiveness. Although it is clear that
these two specialized management disciplines are interconnected, it is
necessary to analyse that interconnectedness and determine what
networks, values, relationships and beliefs are necessary for the
changes, as well as the kind of changes which create social capital of
good quality. The research conducted as part of this study this has
shown that joining a cluster means entering a specific network of
relationships that can lead to a high quality of social capital.