Achieving Success through Social Capital

Citation

Simpson, J. (2002), "Achieving Success through Social Capital", Personnel Review, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 247-252. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.2002.31.2.247.2

A self‐professed business solution provider, with strong links with personal wellbeing. The text sets out to provide solutions to business problems that run parallel with a self‐help personal development programme.

The text is from a tradition of the work of US university professors, who tell the business world “how to”; consequently, it is sometimes difficult for the reader to escape from this approach. The prescriptive, straightforward style is interesting, as it provides general pointers but is not necessarily compatible with the variations presented in complex human activity systems. Given the infinite number of interpretations, levels of meaning, actions, motives and intentions within human activity systems, Achieving Success through Social Capital sets itself a difficult and extensive task.

However, accepting the general nature of the text, the basic idea is, the more people you know, the better you will do. It makes the distinction between social capital, personal and business networks and human capital, knowledge, expertise and experience. Baker argues that success depends on social as well as human capital. This theme runs through the text, with clear examples of how this works in practice. He disputes the idea that people who are out for themselves do best for themselves, rugged US individualism, and replaces this with a more ancient wisdom, “Thou shalt reap as thou hast sown”.

In Baker’s terms this translates as putting people you know in touch with other people you know, if they have the potential to help each other. The payback, which will come indirectly, is that those involved will view you in a positive light to your eventual benefit. The author is keen to develop this idea, and can take it beyond its reasonable limits; he fails to recognise the not so positive implications for those who operate in a commercial rather than in an academic world. There is little recognition of the possibility that not all of those who agree with his basic idea will have the same value system as the author, and the possibilities for abuse of the idea give it an unexplored vulnerability.

The subject‐matter of the text is social capital, and how to achieve success by developing and using your social capital. Use of the word capital as a resource needs to acknowledge its financial context; in particular, it requires understanding of the dual nature of capital. Capital represents a liability and an asset. It is an investment, which is then available to use within a business. In business your assets are your liabilities by another name. The author’s use of the word capital does not acknowledge its full meaning. Capital is seen as a resource to be worked, to be managed.

Undoubtedly, the network and range of personal contacts are a key resource that an individual can bring to an organisation; or, by reading and practising the advice given by Baker, it is claimed that these techniques can be acquired.

While it is true that, in terms of “adding current value” social capital has much to offer and the potential for “creating future value”, is seen as very real; but it is essential to place this within the values and attitudes that influence the actions of the individual. Without reference to a value system the processes of developing and using social capital ignore its dual nature and leave the user with a flawed and incomplete approach.

Achieving Success through Social Capital does not explore this critical aspect of social capital and as a result leaves its basic idea, the more people you know, the better you will do, exposed; its use could easily be undermined and distorted by different value systems in use. The text assumes a shared value system loosely based around mutual benefit.

Social capital is clearly an area of developing interest, with immense potential for “creating future value”. Like any form of capital its duality needs to be acknowledged. The context of use of social capital – complex human activity systems within organisations – needs to be examined and understood. This is not the case with Baker’s text.

Intellectual capital focuses on intangible assets, work on assessing the commercial and more qualitative values associated with this form of capital could highlight areas for further informed use of social capital. However, there is an acknowledgement of non‐beneficial use of intellectual capital. Attempts have been made to evaluate the liability side of intangible assets, but use and misuse of intellectual capital is not as yet a fully formed concept. It is reasonable to expect, given the nature of any form of capital, that misuse is an option. It would be naïve and probably expensive to ignore this elementary fact.

This book is great if you like form filling and diagrams, and it contains some useful lessons, including:

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  Spread yourself – people who are dependent upon work colleagues for everything may find themselves very exposed in cases like redundancy.

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  Spread your knowledge – if people know that you are in the know, you become well‐known.

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  Do not expect an instant payback, or any payback at all. To travel north, move south first. Baker believes that the payback probably will not be what you expected anyway.

In summary, the central argument is that social capital, not what you know, or who you know, but what and who the people you know know is key to success. The basic ideas behind this book are as old as mankind, but there are plenty of humans out there that are more like sharks! This text fails to take the complexity of human activity systems into account and, as a result, the basic ideas contained appear questionable.