Comet, C (2009) Social capital and profits of small firms in the French construction industry. Construction Management and Economics, 27(4), pp. 411-418. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
The profitability of small businesses in the French construction industry depends partly on their social capital. However, social capital yields advantages as well as constraints. How and under what conditions do social networks improve a company's profit margins? From a socio-technical perspective and strategic analysis, we defend the idea that return on social capital is conditioned by the nature of the tasks performed and by the interdependencies among firms. Comparing about 160 businesses from four various crafts, we show that loose networks profit relatively specialized businesses working independently on construction sites, while cohesive networks benefit those businesses that are most affected by socio-technical uncertainties.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | network analysis; profits; SMEs; socio-technical systems; strategic analysis |
| Index terms: | socio-technical, network analysis, profitability, strategic analysis, construction industry, profit, social capital, social network, construction site, socio-technical system, small business |
| Subjects: | business, organization, work location, data analysis and analytics, economic analysis, theoretical framing, research methods, sociology, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here