A relação entre capital social e desempenho operacional

Abstract

A significant challenge to many companies is to identify the resources that can be used to move up the relationships characterized by strong buying power and bargain position to cooperation based partnerships. The collaborative relationship between buyer and supplier has been recognized as an important criterion to achieve positive results. The social capital theory recognizes that relationships can be a source of physical and informational resources. In this sense, one aims to analyze the relationship of the dimensions of social capital to the operational performance of the buyer company. The proposed model supports that the operational performance in cost, quality, delivery, flexibility and innovativeness related positively to the three dimensions – relational, cognitive and structural – of social capital. We sampled plants in the textile industry and Brazilian manufactured. We obtained a list of companies registered as domestic manufacturers of apparel and accessories in TexBrasil Guide of the Brazilian Association of Textile Industries (ABIT). One has drawn up a simple random sample composed by1000 companies. Each company was contacted by telephone and we collected 503 valid direct e-mail addresses of managers involved directly with suppliers. The questionnaire was based on the development of scales, and composed by items like Likert with the measures of each social capital and construct of the performance of operations. Executives from two companies in the same industrial sector and three experts in operation area reviewed the questionnaire. We applied the pre-test in a sample of 17 executives with similar training to the one of the respondents. We used a Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) to validate the scales. Adjusted the questionnaire, we used an on-line form, sent and monitored during the months of November and December 2013 for the e-mails previously identified. We used a similar method to that proposed by Dillmann (2002), and guided a survey. We obtained 117 valid answers, 102 of them were valid. CFA was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the responses. Multiple linear regressions tested the hypotheses. We verified that the buyer’s operational performance measures relate differently to each dimension of social capital. The results show that the relationship actions between buyer and supplier that involve evaluating performance, appropriability, information sharing, supplier development (structural dimension) and the shared vision and values (cognitive dimension) related positively to the buyer’s operat ional performance. The factor positively related with performance in cost is the structural dimension (performance evaluation and appropriability). The factor positively related with performance in quality is the structural dimension (appropriability). The factor associated with performance in delivery is the cognitive dimension (shared vision and values). The factor associated with performance in flexibility is the cognitive dimension (shared vision and values). The factor associated with performance in innovativeness is the structural dimension (supplier development, information sharing and appropriability). In short, the research shows that the buyer companies can leverage the buyer-seller relationship to improve their operational performance, if the appropriate dimensions of the social capital are encouraged.