Social Capital and Sustainability Strategies

The chapter identifies in social capital the strategic resource for the implementation of sustainability strategies in small- and medium-sized enterprises. The relational nature, typical of these actors, has drawn attention to social capital and emphasised its significant strategic role, which, with a responsible view, would enable these actors to reinforce their relational resources. Relationships are thus vital connectors and the stakeholder engagement amongst the best viable approaches to sustainability development in small-sized enterprises. The chapter covers a literary review on the concept of corporate social responsibility and identifies the distinctive features of the sustainability strategy while describing business advantages and stakeholders’ benefits. It is highly important for a SME to be part of a network or a business cluster considering their amplifying impact on relationship-building strategies. Supply chains, clusters and local systems are thereby privileged survey units especially in the view of the growing productive processes de-verticalisation and the Italian economic and productive tissue primarily characterised by small and medium-sized entities. Through an overall review of literature, the chapter investigates the concept of sustainability in these networks, from their conceptions to the underlying motivations and conditions for success. It also identifies the need to establish a link between business social capital, productive systems competitiveness and institutions in order to create to “unique” sustainable networks bearing the economic and cultural characteristics of their local contexts.