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Dynamic capabilities, social capital, and rent appropriation: ties that split pies
Author(s) -
Blyler Maureen,
Coff Russell W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.327
Subject(s) - appropriation , social capital , unobservable , credibility , rent seeking , economics , ambiguity , microeconomics , capital (architecture) , individual capital , business , public economics , financial capital , labour economics , market economy , human capital , sociology , law , social science , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , politics , political science , econometrics , history
Who reaps the fruits of a dynamic capability? We argue that while social capital is essential for the acquisition, integration, and release of resources at the core of a dynamic capability, actors can also use social capital for personal gain. Thus, social capital may be a key to understanding both rent generation and rent appropriation. Even when causal ambiguity obscures individual contributions, they may use their social capital to establish credible claims on the rent. Specifically, employees who occupy structural holes, span organizational boundaries, or who are highly central may be most able to appropriate rent because their social capital grants credibility to their claims. Rent that is appropriated in this way may be unobservable in performance measures that fail to distinguish normal compensation from rent. We contribute by identifying the specific role of social capital in a dynamic capability and linking social capital to rent appropriation patterns. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.