Social Capital of Organizations.
Ευστράτιος Παπάνης The idea of looking at social capital in firms and organizations is, as Cohen and Prusak (2001) say, relatively new. This may be because of the way in which the dominance of more mechanistic and system-oriented conceptions of organizational activity have 'masked their deeply social nature . A number of those concerned with organizational development, like Cohen and Prusak, have become increasingly suspicious of the 'people, processes, technology' mantra, 'ceaselessly intoned as a summary of the sources of organizational effectiveness'. There has, of course, been a significant embracing of the notion of human capital - but those writing about rarely approach the social nature of organizations - and often fall prey to a tendency to draw upon theories and metaphors that derive financial and physical notions of capital. The argument of those concerned with social capital is that when harnessed it generates economic returns. More particularly, the bene...