This study examines how social networking facilitated by coworking spaces help entrepreneurs. Drawing on previous research in the different social science disciplines, a conceptual model is proposed that links coworking space interventions to social capital, and performance benefits. The model distinguishes three coworking interventions, i.e. design of the physical space, facilitative tools, and community management. Furthermore, the model differentiates bridging and bonding social capital. Nineteen interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs who work in three coworking spaces. The findings confirm the relationship between coworking space interventions, bridging and bonding social capital, and performance benefits. Theoretically, this study contributes in developing further knowledge about the increasing social value of coworking spaces. Managerially, this study highlights how the curation of collaborative workspaces can help promoting social capital as well as better conditions for individuals who seek to work in social environments.
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Overbruggend sociaal kapitaal door middel van sport: Een exploratief onderzoek naar (het verbeteren van) inter-etnische contacten bij twee voetbalverenigingen in Nederland In Nederland staat de sociale integratie van minderheden de laatste jaren ter discussie. Gebeurtenissen uit het verleden, zoals de moord op politicus Pim Fortuyn en publicist Theo van Gogh, en meer recent de opmars van internationale organisaties als Islamitische Staat (IS), hebben grote impact op het maatschappelijke debat in Nederland. Desalniettemin is het geloof in de sociaal integratieve functie van sport in Nederland niet afgenomen. Van sport, en dan vooral van sportdeelname binnen verenigingsverband, wordt verwacht dat het een positieve bijdrage levert aan de sociale cohesie en sociale integratie van minderheden. Uit onderzoek weten we al langer dat beleidsmakers de sociaal integratieve functie van sport overschatten. Sport is geen wondermiddel. Sport brengt mensen samen, maar kan mensen ook uitsluiten door het samenbrengen van gelijkgestemden. In dit artikel verkennen we of (en hoe) sport, en dan met name voetbal, kan leiden tot overbruggend sociaal kapitaal (“bridging social capital”), ondanks dat mensen vooral sporten met gelijkgestemden. We baseren onze resultaten op enquêtes en een beperkt aantal aanvullende interviews bij twee voetbalverenigingen in de stad Utrecht. We concluderen dat ondanks dat sport segregatie bevordert, er binnen sportverenigingsverband een ontwikkeling is van sociale inclusie en interetnische contacten. Het onderzoek geeft aan dat extra voorwaarden kunnen worden gecreëerd om begrip en onderling respect te vergroten
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We analyze how ‘original’ residents in different gentrifying working class areas in Amsterdam North experience and evaluate the changes in their neighborhood in terms of social cohesion – in other words, whether they feel at home in their changing neighborhood and whether they feel connected to other residents. Policy interventions often focus on establishing connections between residents with different socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds, in order to stimulate mutual understanding. An underlying policy aim is to uplift vulnerable original residents through contact with higher income groups. Based on our empirical data, we critically assess the concept of ‘bridging capital’ (Putnam, 2000) that underpins several of the social activities that are organized in areas such as the ones in our study. Subsequently, we discuss the importance of ‘bonding capital’ or the sense of interconnectedness and strong ties amongst original residents. Our empirical data – based on both interviews and participatory observation – suggest that activities within the ‘own’ community contribute importantly to feelings of belonging in the neighborhood. In the final section of the article, we discuss how different types of local meeting places offer opportunities for ‘lighter’ forms of interactions without aiming directly at strong connections between differently positioned neighborhood residents.
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Entrepreneurship is a viable income-generating option for refugee women. Entrepreneurial work can bypass limits placed on work permits, obstacles in the formal economy, and familial responsibilities. Critical to success is access to and attainment of social capital, but women entrepreneurs are frequently hampered by gender and cultural biases. Due to such limitations, they face difficultly in attaining bridging and linking capitals, which are necessary for gaining access to support networks and target markets within a host society. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a crucial role in enabling refugees to access support and social capital. NGOs become an instrumental component for women refugees to develop business plans, navigate host country laws and practices, access resources for start-ups, and gain mentorship. However, the types of support available are often NGO-specific, which restricts their applicability. Despite intermittent, beneficial encounters encouraged by NGOs, the long-term impact is questionable due to the variability and inconsistency of service offerings.
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Metaphors are at the basis of our understanding of reality. Using the theory of metaphor developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 1999) this paper analyses common metaphors used in the intellectual capital and knowledge management literatures. An analysis of key works by Davenport & Prusak (2000), Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995), and Stewart (1991) suggests that at least 95 percent of all statements about either knowledge or intellectual capital are based on metaphors. The paper analyses the two metaphors that form the basis for the concept of intellectual capital: ‘Knowledge as a Resource’ and ‘Knowledge as Capital’, both of which derive their foundations from the industrial age. The paper goes into some of the implications of these findings for the theory and practice of intellectual capital. Common metaphors used in conceptualising abstract phenomena in traditional management practices unconsciously reinforce the established social order. The paper concludes by asking whether we need new metaphors to better understand the mechanisms of the knowledge economy, hence allowing us to potentially change some of the more negative structural features of contemporary society.
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In many fields within management and organizational literature there is considerable debate and controversy about key theoretical concepts and their definitions and meanings. Systematic metaphor analysis can be a useful approach to study the underlying conceptualizations that give rise to these controversies and putting them in perspective. It can help identify the different ways a theoretical concept is structured and given meaning, provide insight into the way these different conceptualizations relate to each other, and show how these conceptualizations impact further theorization about the concept. This article describes the procedure for a systematic analysis of the metaphors used to conceptualize key theoretical concepts. To examine its usefulness, the authors apply the approach to the field of social capital, and in particular to the concept of ‘relationships’ in organizations. In the metaphor analysis of three seminal articles on social capital, the authors identify seven metaphoric concepts for relationships. The metaphors are illuminated as important for providing imagery that adds specific meaning in the process of authors theorizing about social capital like ‘tie’, ‘path’ and ‘bridge’. They add dynamics and controllability to the concepts by attributing an array of verbs like ‘to move between’ or ‘to use’ relationships. In addition, the metaphors allow for the attribution of specific characteristics to the concept of relationships that can be used as variables in theory construction, such as the strength of a relationship or the ‘distance’ between people. These insights are useful in exploring and reconciling differences in social capital definitions.
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This study proposes a framework to measure touristification of consumption spaces, consisting of concentration of retail capital, business displacement and standardization of the consumption landscape. This framework is tested using business registration data and rent price estimates for consumption spaces in Amsterdam between 2005 and 2020. Touristification emerges from concentrations of retail capital and standardization, but occurs without causing significant business displacement. A cluster analysis identifies different variations of touristification. Besides the more typical cases these include nightlife areas, gentrifying consumption spaces and specialized retail areas. This suggests that local contingencies cause consumption spaces to respond differently to increasing tourism.
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There are three volumes in this body of work. In volume one, we lay the foundation for a general theory of organizing. We propose that organizing is a continuous process of ongoing mutual or reciprocal influence between objects (e.g., human actors) in a field, whereby a field is infinite and connects all the objects in it much like electromagnetic fields influence atomic and molecular charged objects or gravity fields influence inanimate objects with mass such as planets and stars. We use field theory to build what we now call the Network Field Model. In this model, human actors are modeled as pointlike objects in the field. Influence between and investments in these point-like human objects are explained as energy exchanges (potential and kinetic) which can be described in terms of three different types of capital: financial (assets), human capital (the individual) and social (two or more humans in a network). This model is predicated on a field theoretical understanding about the world we live in. We use historical and contemporaneous examples of human activity and describe them in terms of the model. In volume two, we demonstrate how to apply the model. In volume 3, we use experimental data to prove the reliability of the model. These three volumes will persistently challenge the reader’s understanding of time, position and what it means to be part of an infinite field. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99709
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Organisations of land managers in landscape management face the challenge of combining the need to foster bonding social capital within their member groups with the need to develop bridging social capital with other stakeholders and linking social capital with public authorities. This paper compares the concepts of self-governing groups, boundary organisations and quangos, to analyse how agri-environmental collectives in the Netherlands navigate their identity in interactions with public authorities and manage potential trade-offs between different forms of social capital. It shows the paradoxical situation that these self-governing collectives have to adopt characteristics of public agencies, in order to meet the demands of the Dutch government and EU legislation, required to gain the trust of the authorities for more room for self-governance. The resulting ‘professionalization’ and enlargement of agri-environmental collectives is likely to reduce bonding social capital, which in turn is an important asset for effective landscape management. In order to prevent this counterproductive incentive of expecting self-governing groups to behave like public agencies, we recommend to nourish and protect the in-between identity of agri-environmental collectives, to acknowledge their variety, and to allow them to be self-governing groups as well as boundary organisations.
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This paper presents a design-based research study on the reporting of intellectual capital in firms. It combines the designing of an organizational development (OD) intervention with the testing of the intervention using an action research methodology. A growing gap between theory-based research and practice has been identified as one of the reasons for a lack of renewal in the field of OD. Design-based research (DBR) has been proposed as a methodology that can help bridge the gap between research and practice. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate what a comprehensive methodology for design-based research can look like and to demonstrate the type of OD knowledge this research can produce. The design approach is used to design and test a tool for the reporting of intellectual capital within firms as an OD intervention into the individual and collective sensemaking of managers.
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