How Do South Koreans Perceive Corporate Social Capital and Its Benefits? An Application to Corporations and Community

Abstract

A recent public opinion survey found that the anti-corporate sentiment of South Korean citizens is primarily due to enterprises’ misbehavior. South Korean citizens’ skepticism of corporations may hinder the democratic and economic development of the country. As a driving force for community development, social capital is considered to enable citizens to collaborate with one another to resolve a shared problem. Specifically, this study paid attention to the relationship among social capital, corporate capacity, and trust, which may perhaps contribute to developing a democratic environment in the Korean society. The study aimed to explore whether Korean citizens’ perceived corporate bonding and bridging social capital affect corporate capacity for collaborative action and trust in corporations. The study asked 385 South Koreans to respond to a Web survey. Findings show that perceived bonding social capital among employees was positively related to corporate capacity for collaboration action. Moreover, perceived bonding among employees and bridging social capital between employees and local residents were positively related to corporate capacity for collaboration action and trust in corporations. These findings suggest that researchers and practitioners for organizational development and community-building need to enhance corporate social capital.