The thesis is devoted to the generalization of theoretical and methodological principles and the elaborating of scientific and practical recommendations for the development of social capital as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of enterprises.
The thesis deepens the theoretical provisions on the essence of social capital; analyses theoretical and methodological approaches to its evaluation and impact on the economic results of the enterprise; determines the directions of stimulating the development of social capital of enterprises in Ukraine with the use of the interaction potential of the stakeholders of enterprise development.
Based on existing approaches to the conceptualization of social capital theory, the essence of social capital as an intangible asset created in the process of interaction of stakeholders of enterprise development, is manifested through structural, relational and cognitive components and affects economic development, including enterprise competitiveness.
Based on the generalization of existing approaches, applied principles of social capital decomposition are developed. As a methodological basis for research on social capital management processes, these principles allow using an approach whose special functions are management of structural, relational and cognitive social capital.
An assessment of the links between social capital and macroeconomic indicators of social and economic development efficiency (indices of human development and global competitiveness) is carried out. Empirical analysis of statistical data revealed that social capital is one of the determinants of high competitiveness and human development within the groups of countries where the processes of social capital formation and development are stable and have appropriate institutional support.
The generalization of scientific and methodological approaches to the study of the relationship between social capital and the competitiveness of enterprises using econometric analysis confirmed the theoretical assumptions about their positive interrelationship based on empirical results. As a result of the study of social capital impact on competitiveness indicators using SEM modelling, the presence of significant links between structural, relational and cognitive indicators of social capital and competitiveness is substantiated. In particular, the significant impact on the competitiveness of enterprises of such relational components as efforts to form a positive image of the enterprise and mutual trust between employees and the management of the company and vice versa is stated. In terms of structural factors, the most influential are efforts to maintain a reputation with consumers and the development of strategic partnerships with suppliers; among the cognitive ones, it is general satisfaction with the psychological climate in the team.
The directions and priority actions for ensuring the development of social capital taking into account the size of enterprises (large, medium-sized, small and micro) are identified, which are based on the revealed problems of social capital development of enterprises, as well as assessing the components having the greatest impact on the competitiveness of the enterprise.
The competitiveness process of managing the development of social capital of enterprises in the context of increasing its competitiveness in modern economic conditions involves the integration of relevant actions in the strategic management of its activities.
On the basis of the developed “social capital / competitiveness” matrix, the scientific and methodical approach to the analysis of competitiveness of the enterprises taking into account the development of their social capital is offered.
The scientific and applied principles of the SC test are substantiated, which are designed to assess the components of social capital, important in the context of choosing competitive and responsible partner companies to be involved in socio-economic development programmes of local communities, as well as to form a positive public perception of enterprises with high social capital, which will serve as a constant basis for its improvement.
Organizational and economic principles of ensuring the development of social capital are substantiated to increase the competitiveness of enterprises based on the author’s approach to determining the components of structural, relational and cognitive social capital, assessing their development in enterprises in relation to financial and non-financial indicators of competitiveness and the principles defined by the management.
The practical significance of the obtained results is that the main provisions of the thesis are brought to the level of methodological works and applied recommendations, which form a basis for further research on social capital development as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of enterprises.
