Title: Social capital at work: the case of franchise network formation

Authors: Wojciech Czakon

Addresses: Department of Management, The Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice, ul. Bogucicka 14, 40-226 Katowice, Poland

Abstract: Previous research in the field of social capital mainly focuses on the structural issues and the impact of structural factors on performance, while the process of social capital use in organised economic activity seems to be underresearched. This paper focuses on the franchise network formation process and highlights social capital activation in a large multi-unit organisation. The success story of the rapid franchising network formation by a retail bank contributes to our understanding of rent generation and appropriation from social capital. The study describes how to leverage intangible assets to achieve strategic goals.

Keywords: social capital; innovation; network formation; franchise networks; learning; franchising; rent generation; retail banks; intangible assets.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2010.030610

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2010 Vol.7 No.2, pp.134 - 150

Published online: 26 Dec 2009 *

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