The aim of the paper is to understand how social capital can help firms to overcome the
structural challenges of the society and how it can be utilized to facilitate the
establishment process and enable the firms to adjust their strategies to an African
market. This leads to the following research question:
How do firms efficiently operate in and adapt to the South African market through
the access to social capital?
The research question is based on the presumption that social capital is a key
determinant of the performance of the firm within the African market. The overall
research question leads to a number of secondary research questions which will help to
answer the overall research question.
- How do firms access social capital in the South African market?
- What are the firm-related benefits derived from social capital in a South African
context?
- How can social capital help the firms to overcome some of the barriers to the
South African market?