How social capital influences performance in family firms: the moderating role of nepotism
The International Journal of Human Resource Management publishes a study about Swiss family owned companies conducted by Dr. Andreas Schmid and Dr. Anna Sender.
Researchers have used CRANET data to explore how Swiss companies can increase their organisational perfomance by profiting from social capital. Social capital reflects an organization’s overall ability to share and leverage knowledge among and between networks of employees, customers, suppliers, and alliance partners. Researcher focused specifically on the role of nepotism, i.e. preferential treatment of family members in human resource management related decisions, and showed that in spite of known negative effects of nepotism, it can bring benefits in terms of optimal use of social capital in family firms.