RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Cooperatives' Internal and External Social Networks and Size
A1 Román Cervantes, Cándido
A1 Yanes Estévez, María Vanessa
A1 García Pérez, Ana María
A1 González Dávila, Enrique Francisco
A2 Dirección de Empresas e Historia Económica
A2 Catedra Cajasiete de Economía Social y Cooperativa
K1 agri-food cooperatives
K1 management
K1 social capital
K1 social networks
K1 size
K1 strategy
AB Under the perspective of social capital and social networks, this work analyses agrifood cooperatives' internal and external social networks and if they are conditioned by their size. A questionnaire about internal and external social networks was answered by managers of agrifood cooperatives in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results show that there is an intense interaction both inside and outside the cooperatives, through very frequent contacts among members, managerial teams, customers and other external agents. Size only has an impact on the kinship or friendship ties. They differ depending on the number of employees of the cooperatives: there are more kinship and friendship ties in most of the smaller cooperatives. As implications from these results, cooperatives' managers should be aware that their social ties make them different from the rest of firms. Social capital facilitates innovation and the exchange of information. Managers must favour its development. They must also focus on managing the information that flows through the diverse interorganisational and interpersonal relations in the cooperatives in an integrated way with their strategy.  This article contributes to the literature analysing organisational social capital of agrifood cooperatives, its elements, and its origin with respect to internal and external social networks. This paper also participates in the debate on the appropriateness of cooperatives' growth by linking their social networks to their size
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40558
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40558
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 05-ene-2025