Paul Ferri

The measurement of social capital in the entrepreneurial context

Purpose - Whilst all models of the entrepreneurial process identify the role of networking as important at both the start-up and developmental stage of a business latterly these models have expanded the notion of networking and embraced the concept of social capital. However, much of the literature on measuring social capital has focussed on the quantity of social capital within a given geographical space. This paper seeks to expand this research by examining the depth and richness of social capital for new venture creation and thereby identifying the impact of social capital in new venture creation. Design/methodology/approach - Current research has tended to be quantitative, for example the World Values Survey. However, 2001 there is a need to explore the value of social capital in the entrepreneurial process. This paper presents a critical review of the existing literature on measuring social capital in the entrepreneurial process. It is anticipated that the research will reveal rich, contextual information which will identify the need to investigate social capital from a qualitative perspective. Findings - The papers examination of the social capital literature thus far, although not exhaustive, has noted the emergence of several common themes that associate the issues of measurement with lack of empirical consensus on an accepted definition of social capital. Practical implications - Policy makers charged with developing an entrepreneurial culture and the establishment of new ventures, might wish to look at encouraging both nascent and existing entrepreneurs to exploit their formal and informal network relationships, seeking the development of organisations and institutions that will assist in building social capital. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the existing literature in emphasising the necessity of understanding the “measurement” of intangible factors in understanding social capital in the entrepreneurial process.

A conceptualisation of the relationship capital of rural small service firms

Rural southwest Scotland relies to an atypically large extent on its small firms. This research adopts a qualitative approach to explore and map the relationships of 12 rural SMEs in the service sector. Although formal networks are underdeveloped in rural southwest Scotland, business owners determine alternative ways of overcoming many of the constraints which they face. Insights into the ways in which rural SMEs function within their environment reveal that the more agile rural SMEs have overcome their lack of access to networks.

Enhancing Academic Entrepreneurial Capability through the Creation of New Knowledge

This paper uses the concept of the entrepreneurial university and the so-called ‘Triple Helix’ to analyse the nature of entrepreneurial capability and capacity building within a university environment. The authors analyse the operationalization of the entrepreneurial process of the entrepreneurial university as it looks to create new knowledge. According to Heinonen and Hytti (2010), this is an underdeveloped area in the literature and so there is a knowledge deficit. The authors seek to address this deficit by using an inductive approach to develop a conceptual model of the entrepreneurial process.