Social capital and the Growth of Family Enterprises

The growth of family enterprises consists of continuous integration dimensions of four interrelated capitals, named social financial, social human, social network and social cultural capital. The process of business growth can be divided into three stages: the survival stage, the development stage and the maturation stage, in each stage, the social capital illustrates different characteristics. The growth of family enterprises entails them to break the shackles of relative-network, keep on expanding the network of social capital, and to re-build social capital, or else, the firm will get trapped. Trust scarcity is the largest constraint in the process of family enterprises integrating social capital, and is also the challenge to be solved urgently in China.