DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2018-1-135-145

Structural social capital of workers of Russian industrial enterprises: an empirical evaluation*

Igor A. Germanov 
Ph.D. in Sociology, Docent,
Associate Professor of the Department of SociologyPerm State University,
15, Bukirev str., Perm, 614990, Russia;
e-mail: germanov1973@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-2338-6693

Elena B. Plotnikova
Ph.D. in History, Docent, 
Head of the Department of SociologyPerm State University,
15, Bukirev str., Perm, 614990, Russia;
e-mail: plotnikova1958@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-3599-5215

Daria A. Bulgakova
Post-graduate Student of the «Sociology» Program,
Faculty of Philosophy and SociologyPerm State University,
15, Bukirev str., Perm, 614990, Russia;
e-mail: dashushab@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0003-1445-7848

This article presents the author’s concept of researching social networks of workers, which constitute the structural basis of an organization’s social capital. The authors of the article have conducted sociological research at large industrial enterprises in Perm and give an overall description of social relationships between employees, as well as analyze the interactions that arise while overcoming difficulties conjointly, and characterize the size and composition of the networks of instrumental support. The structure of production collectives is presented in terms of the position of workers in the processes of aid exchange and analysis of its links with the socio-demographic characteristics of workers. The research results indicate that the principles of relationships established in organizations contribute to the development of social ties between workers. Social networks are used by workers to solve the problems that accompany the production process. The workers included in the network have the opportunity to replenish resources that are lacking at the individual level. The authors managed to distinguish four groups of workers, differing in their participation in resource exchange processes. The percentage of workers who lend support to their colleagues is less than in the early 1990s, but employees involved in the networks of instrumental support still constitute the majority. The composition of networks of instrumental support indicate that they are generating both «bonding» and «bridging» social capital. The high level of managers’ participation in the networks contributes to the formation and development of the «linking» social capital.

Keywords: social capital, social networks, industrial workers.

References

Adler P.S., Kwon S. (2002). Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 27, no. 1. P. 17–40. DOI: 10.5465/AMR.2002.5922314. (In English).

Alasheev S.Y. (1995). Neformal’nye otnosheniya v protsesse proizvodstva: «vzglyad iznutri» [Informal relations in industrial enterprise: inside view]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 2, pp. 12–19. (In Russian).

Andrews R. (2010). Organizational Social Capital, Structure and Performance. Human Relations. No. 63(5). P. 583–608. DOI: 10.1177/0018726709342931.(In English).

Araujo L., Easton G. (1999). A Relation Resource Perspective on Social Capital. Corporate Social Capital and Liability / ed. by R. Lendeers, S.M. Gabbay. USA, Kluwer Academic Publ., pp. 68–87. (In English).

Belkin V.N., Bochkareva I.V. (2011). Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii kak ekonomicheskoe yavlenie [The social capital of an organization as an economic phenomenon]. Zhurnal ekonomicheskoy teorii [Russian Journal of Economic Theory]. No. 3, pp. 7–10. (In Russian).

Bessokirnaya G.P., Temnitskiy A.L. (2004). Sotsial’nye resursy rabochikh i ikh otnoshenie k trudu [Social resources of workers and their relation to work]. Sotsial’naya politika: realii XXI veka [Social Policy: The Realities of The 21st Century]. No. 2, pp. 432–461. (In Russian).

Bochkareva I.V. (2011). Potentsial sotsial’nykh setey organizatsii [The potential of organizational social networks]. Obschestvo i ekonomika [Society and Economy]. No. 7, pp. 122–130. (In Russian).

Bourdieu P. (2002). Formy kapitala:per. M.S. Dobryakovoy [Forms of capital]. Ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya  [Economic Sociology]. Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 60–74. (In Russian).

Burt R.S. (1997). The Contingent Value of Social Capital. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 339–365. DOI: 10.2307/2393923. (In English).

Chen X., Stanton B., Gong J., Fang X., Li X. (2009). Personal Social Capital Scale: an Instrument for Health and Behavioral Research. Health Education Research. No. 24(2), pp. 306–317. DOI: 10.1093/her/cyn020. (In English).

Chow W.S., Chan L.S. (2008). Social Network, Social Trust and Shared Goals in Organizational Knowledge Sharing. Information & Management. No. 45(7). P. 458–465. DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2008.06.007. (In English).

Gradoselskaya G.V. (1999). Sotsial’nye seti: obmen chastnymi transfertami [Social Networks: sharing of private transfers]. Sotsiologicheskiy zhurnal [Sociological Journal]. No. 1–2, pp. 77–86. (In Russian).

Granovetter M. (2009). Sila slabykh svyazey [The Strength of Weak Ties]. Ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya [Economic Sociology]. Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 31–50. (In Russian).

Diskin I.E. (2003). Modernizatsiya rossiyskogo obshchestva i sotsial’nyy kapital [Modernization of Russian society and social capital]. Monitoring obschestvennogo mneniya [The Monitoring of Public Opinion], No. 5–6 (67–68), pp. 14–20. (In Russian).

Kleymenova G.V., Ladyga A.I. (2010). Sotsial’nyy kapital i metody sotsial’no orientirovannogo menedzhmenta v sisteme upravleniya sovremennymi promyshlennymi predpriyatiyami [Social capital and methods of socially-oriented management of modern industrial enterprises]. Ekonomicheskie nauki [Economic sciences]. No. 2(63), pp. 145–151. (In Russian).

Kozyreva P.M. (2008). K voprosu o doverii v trudovykh kollektivakh [The issue of trust in labor collectives]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 11, pp. 24–33. (In Russian).

Korel L.V. (2013). Narrativ naemnogo truda i kollizii doveriya na sovremennykh promyshlennykh predpriyatiyakh v usloviyakh modernizatsii [Hired labour and the phenomenon of trust in modern industrial enterprises (materials of sociological research and engineering employees)]. Obschestvo i ekonomika [Society and Economy]. No. 10, pp. 149–162. (In Russian).

Koulman D. (2001). Kapital sotsial’nyy i chelovecheskiy  [Social and human capital]. Obschestvennye nauki i sovremennost’ [Social Sciences and Contemporary World]. No. 3, pp. 121–139. (In Russian).

Leana C.R., Van Buren H.J. (1999). Organizational Social Capital and Employment Practices. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 538–555. DOI: 10.5465/AMR.1999.220236. (In English).

Macherinskene I., Minkute-Genrikson R., Simanavichene Zh. (2006). Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii: metodologiya issledovaniya  [Social capital of organization: methodology of research]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 3, pp. 29–39. (In Russian).

Nahapiet J., Ghoshal S. (1998). Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 242–266. DOI: 10.5465/AMR.1995.533225. (In English).

Nazarchuk A.V. (2011). O setevykh issledovaniyakh v sotsial’nykh naukah [Network research in the social sciences]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 1, pp. 39–51. (In Russian).

Nestik T.A. (2009). Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii: sotsia’lno-psikhologicheskiy analiz. Chast’ I [Social capital of organization: socio-psychological analysis. Part 1]. Psikholoicheskiy zhurnal [Psychological Journal]. Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 52–63. (In Russian).

Nestik T.A. (2009). Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii: sotsia’lno-psikhologicheskiy analiz. Chast’ II [Social capital of organization: socio-psychological analysis. Part 2]. Psikholoicheskiy zhurnal [Psychological Journal]. Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 29–42. (In Russian).

Patrushev V.D., Temnitskiy A.L. (1995). Real’noe povedenie rabochikh promyshlennosti v sfere truda v period perekhoda k rynochnym otnosheniyam [The actual behavior of industrial workers in employment in the period of transition to a market economy]. Moscow, The Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 67 p. (In Russian).

Polischuk E.A. (2005). Sotsial’nyy kapital i ego rol’ v ekonomicheskom razvitii [Social capital and its role in economic development]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Seriya 5: Ekonomika [Vestnik of Saint Petersburg State University. Series 5: Economics]. No. 1, pp. 10–16. (In Russian).

Portes A.(1998). Social Capital: Its Origins and Application in Modern Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 24. P. 1–24. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.1. (In English).

Rezanova E.V. (2009)Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii: teoretiko-metodologicheskie aspekty issledovaniya [Social capital of the organization: theoretic-methodological aspects of research]. Nauchnye vedomosti Belgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Pravo [Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. Series Philosophy. Sociology. Law]. Vol. 7, no. 2(57), pp. 120–125. (In Russian).

Reutov E.V., Kolpina L.V., Reutova M.N., Boyarinova I.V. (2011). Effektivnost’ sotsialnykh setey v regional’nom soobschestve  [Effectiveness of social networks in regional community]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 1, pp. 79–88. (In Russian).

Shaposhnikova V.V. (2009). Sotsial’nyy kapital v trudovykh kollektivakh promyshlennykh predpriyatiyavtoref. dis. … kand. ekon. nauk [Social capital of workers’ collectives in industrial enterprises: abstract of Ph.D. dissertation]. Moscow, 2009. 21 p. (In Russian).

Sidorina T.Y. (2007). Sotsial’nyy kapital organizatsii i sotsial’naya politika rossiyskogo predpriyatiya  [Social capital of the organization and social policy of the Russian enterprise]. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsial’noy politiki  [The journal of social policy studies]. No. 3, pp. 319–334. (In Russian).

Temnitskiy A.L. (2002). Transformatsiya norm trudovykh vzaimootnosheniy mezhdu rabochimi i menedzherami rossiyskikh predpriyatiy  [Transformation of the norms of labor relations between workers and managers of Russian enterprises]. Rossiya v globalnom kontekste. XV Vsemirnyy kongress sotsiologov [Russia in a global context. XV World Congress of Sociologists. Brisbane, Australia, Jul. 7–13, 2002]. Moscow, The Institution of Russian Academy of Science the Institute of Socio-political Research RAS Publ., pp. 207–211. (In Russian).

Temnitskiy A.L., Bessokirnaya G.P. (1998). Kollektivistskie trudovye otnosheniya na chastnom promyshlennom predpriyatii [Collectivistic labour relations at the private industrial enterprises]. Sotsiologicheskiy zhurnal  [Sociological Journal]. No. 1/2, pp. 201–208. (In Russian).

Received 01.02.2018

For citation:

Germanov I.A., Plotnikova E.B., Bulgakova D.A.Structural social capital of workers of Russian industrial enterprises: an empirical evaluation // Perm University Herald. Series «Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology». 2018. Iss. 1. P. 135–145. DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2018-1-135-145

 

*Публикация подготовлена при финансовой поддержке РФФИ, проект «Социальный капитал организации как фактор модернизации российской промышленности (на примере предприятий Пермского края)», №16-03-00374.