Can environmental governance benefit from an ICT-social capital nexus in civil society?

Although the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to foster social capital in civil society has been duly acknowledged, few studies have empirically explored the ICT-social capital nexus in the context of community organizations. Huysman and Wulf (2004) consider the lack of interest in the area of ‘ICT and social capital’ as worrisome in today’s increasingly network-centric society. Since the prospect of ICT furthering social capital is simply too significant to ignore, this paper responds to this gap by reporting on one aspect of a 2008 survey of environmental community organizations (ECOs) undertaken to develop a broader understanding of the linkages between organizational social capital and information and communication technologies in the Perth region of Western Australia. By exploring the trend of ICT uptake, pattern of intra-organizational as well as inter-organizational interactions, and the association between ICT uptake and organizational interactions, this paper critically engages in the ‘ICT and social capital’ debate and discusses the implications of ICT-social capital nexus in the context of environmental governance

Mobilizing Social Capital: A Qualitative and Network Analysis of Human Service Organizations

Poverty and homelessness is a social problem that impacts all communities in the U.S. and globally. Social programs that address these issues often focus on mobilizing resources to provide opportunities to increase the social position of their clients and meet their basic needs. Sociological research into this problem, however, has emphasized the influence of social connections in the experiences of individuals in poverty. Social capital is the conceptual representation of actual or potential resources obtained through social network connections. Existing literature regarding social capital has demonstrated that social connections are a critical aspect of human social experience and the ability to overcome obstacles and obtain opportunities for upward social mobility, which may provide an opportunity for individuals to escape poverty. However, much of the literature connecting social capital to homelessness has been directed towards examining the social connections of individuals, and therefore, neglects an analysis of the mobilization of social capital in service organizations. This research addresses this lacuna by examining organizational practices and social network structures in a sample of homeless service providers. The purpose of this study was to analyze the practices of human service organizations that promote the development and utilization of their social network connections. This research thus provides a descriptive review of how organizations mobilize social capital in their community to the benefit of their clients. To frame the analysis, I use sociological theories on social capital, resource mobilization, and social networks to investigate the question of how human service organizations leverage their social connections to the benefit of their clients. To investigate this question, I use a thematic analysis of 10 qualitative interviews, with a sample of organizational leaders from 7 organizations, and a sociometric analysis of the network connections between 83 organizations in the sample’s community. The results demonstrate that the organizations use practices that employ social capital to: a) mobilize collective community resources, b) develop trust and reciprocity between providers and clients, c) produce social solidarity between clients and the community, and d) develop social ties that provide social support and opportunities for upward mobility. The findings provide an outline for identifying social capital in organizations, which can be used in future research to evaluate the effectiveness of mobilizing social capital for individuals experiencing periods of poverty and homelessness. Additionally, the results review the challenges and potential benefits of developing organizational networks. This research contributes to sociological theory and academic literature by offering evidence of social capital in connections between entities other than individuals. In conclusion, this study informs social policy and encourages organizations to act as members of a connected network, as opposed to acting as individual service providers

The Social Capital of Cohousing Communities

This article aims to discuss the possibility that cohousing communities might combine both civil engagement and governance systems in order to simultaneously generate three forms of social capital: bonding, bridging, and linking social capitals. Cohousing communities intend to create a ‘self-sufficient micro-cosmos’, but struggle against the relationships of ‘anonymous’ neighbourhood. Cohousers build their bonding social capital through the creation of a supportive (formal and informal) network within the community; while at the same time they develop bridging social capital when they try to integrate with the wider context, by organizing activities and making available spaces towards the outside. Finally, when cohousers try to collaborate with external partners (e.g. non-profit organizations and public institutions) they build linking social capital in relation to the ideas, information and advantages obtained through the collaboration with these institutions

The Evolution of a Collaborative Network: Understanding Partnerships in a Policy Mandated Collaboration Through Social Network Analysis

Federal funding agencies that administer financial support in the form of program grants to non-profit organizations (NPOs) that provide child and family services increasingly require NPOs to formalize inter-organizational partnerships in order to receive this vital source of funding. That is, by mandate NPOs must participate in inter-organizational collaboration networks to receive these essential federal funds. Therefore, there is a need to understand the collaboration behavior of NPOs in a policy-mandated environment. This study considers collaboration behavior as information sharing and advice-seeking between the organizations who are part of a collaboration network as a result of a policy mandate. Drawing on collaboration theory, social capital theory, and social network theory, this study examines the evolution of a collaboration network by assessing how NPOs in a policy-mandated context chose to engage in information-sharing behaviors and how these behaviors changed over time as NPOs developed a working history together. This research examined the production and distribution of social capital as the primary mechanism for motivating collaboration (i.e., information exchange) as the network evolved. Using Louisiana’s Project Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health (LAUNCH) as a case study, this study analyzed five years of self-reported organization-level data on collaboration behaviors and information exchanged among NPOs within the LAUNCH network. A social network approach was used to analyze the evolution of collaboration practices and found that existing ties play a pivotal role in facilitating information exchange behaviors among the NPOs in the study. That is, organizations are more likely to create information-sharing partnerships with other organizations that have been endorsed and vouched for by an existing partner, or they share information with organizations that have already shared information with them in the past. This showed a tendency towards bonding social capital wherein organizations are provided security against the high levels of risk within a policy-mandated collaboration by the convenience and accessibility offered by maintaining existing relationships. Results of this study were consistent throughout the different model specifications employed in the analysis, and reveal key implications for organizations engaged in policy-mandated partnerships, as well as for funders who require collaboration. Keywords: Collaboration, Partnerships, Collaboration Network, Collaboration Theory, Social Capital Theory, Social Network Theory, Social Network Analysi

Networks for Representation: Social Capital and the Efficacy of Local Participatory Institutions

Efforts to understand the successes and limitations of civil society institutions have inspired a growing literature on social networks, social capital, and the role that social relationships play in developing group norms supporting collective action and in linking groups to network-based resources. The literature has tended to emphasize broad egocentric networks or informal networks of community organizations, largely ignoring the importance of social capital for supporting engagement of the formal participatory institutions that are arising as a way of improving stakeholder input in many cities. The extant research on community-representing organizations has tended to conceptualize social networks in largely metaphorical terms, and has not systematically investigated the manner in which political networks support their operations. This paper argues that differing forms of network resources will support distinct types of activities undertaken by participatory organizations. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that different network resources are employed in different contexts, while suggesting that civil society organizations must overcome basic organizational hurdles related to internal conflict in order to leverage latent network resources

Social Network Capital and Academic Careers

Social Network Capital and Academic Careers: The Case of a College of Agriculture ABSTRACT The relationship between economic performance and various forms of capital anchors a significant portion of mainstream economic theory and applied economics. Human, physical and financial capital represent important factors in the production of goods and services. The label “capital” implies characteristics such as investment, accumulation, maintenance, depreciation, and transfer. Recently, social capital or social network capital (SNC) has received increased scholarly attention in the literature of sociology, business, and economics. Limited analysis, however, has been directed at the role of SNC in the academy. We hypothesize that academic success at the professorial level is determined by the stock of human (HC) and SNC and the value flows emerging from these stocks. We view SNC as a complement to HC, increasing the productivity of HC while holding all other factors constant. An analysis of SNC’s importance to academic career success should interest the academy as well as other large organizations (i.e. research laboratories, government agencies) with similar structures and incentive systems.Social capital, academic networks, human capital, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Mobilizing Informational Social Capital in Cyber Space: Online Social Network Structural Properties and Knowledge Sharing

Online networks can be construed as social networks in which people engage in interactions, build rela- tionships, share information, and request and extend assistance to each other using electronic communication technologies. Is social capital embedded in online networks? How is such social capital mobilized (i.e., shared)? What structural properties of cyber networks are associated with mobilization of social capital? These questions have drawn the attention of researchers in the areas of social networks, social capital, and online communication. Our research is an initial effort to touch upon these three questions. Whereas most previous research on both conventional and online social networks has favored analysis of either egocentric (i.e., individuals) or bounded (i.e., groups or organizations) networks as the primary unit of analysis, this study investigates online discussion forums that span formal boundaries of organizations, examining their structural properties and patterns of information exchange. We employ a network-based approach to the study of social capital, postulating that mobilization of social capital is contingent on social network properties. Using data from professional online forums devoted to knowledge management, we find that two network properties, core–periphery structure and centralization, are related to the mobilization of informational social capital in online networks. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided

The role of network administrative organizations in the development of social capital in inter-organizational food networks

This paper is concerned with the role of network administrative organizations (NAOs) in the development of social capital in inter‐organizational networks aiming at supporting their members to innovate in the food sector through interacting with one another. A multi‐case study approach is used whereby three Belgian inter‐organizational networks are investigated i.e. Wagralim, R&eacute;seau‐Club and Flanders Food. Our study shows that there are many options available to NAOs to build social capital within the networks they are responsible for; options which we propose to categorize in three main distinct groups: creation of boundary objects, careful selection of members and effective communication.</p

Social Network Analysis

{Excerpt} Power no longer resides exclusively (if at all) in states, institutions, or large corporations. It is located in the networks that structure society. Social network analysis seeks to understand networks and their participants and has two main focuses: the actors and the relationships between them in a specific social context. The information revolution has given birth to new economies structured around flows of data, information, and knowledge. In parallel, social networks have grown stronger as forms of organization of human activity. Social networks are nodes of individuals, groups, organizations, and related systems that tie in one or more types of interdependencies: these include shared values, visions, and ideas; social contacts; kinship; conflict; financial exchanges; trade; joint membership in organizations; and group participation in events, among numerous other aspects of human relationships. Indeed, it sometimes appears as though networked organizations out compete all other forms of organization—certainly, they outpace vertical, rigid, command-and-control bureaucracies. When they succeed, social networks influence larger social processes by accessing human, social, natural, physical, and financial capital, as well as the information and knowledgecontent of these. (In development work, they can impact policies, strategies, programs, and projects—including their design, implementation, and results—and the partnerships that often underpin these.) To date, however, we are still far from being able to construe their public and organizational power in ways that can harness their potential. Understanding when, why, and how they function best is important. Here, social network analysis can help