The role of social capital in SMEs for polycrisis management

Since 2020 several crises have brought unexpected and complex economic, political and social challenges to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have had to innovate to survive but urgent responses often preclude strategic consideration for long-term repercussions. This paper explores the role of social capital in organisations and considers how it can assist in navigating external crises and buffering against future change. Using a hybrid social capital perspective we examine the prospects for SMEs to survive crises using two rounds of purposive and convenience sampling driven semi-structured interviews undertaken twelve months apart with the same respondents drawn from a diverse range of industries such as catering, digital agencies, education, and sport organisations. The interviews explored social capital through the attributes of stakeholder trust, reciprocity and shared values also discerning how integration with, and provocation from, wider networks impacts SMEs. The paper critically evaluates the role of social capital in SMEs during current times of seemingly ever-present crisis. Having clear awareness of the influence and role of social capital, its attributes and its role in shaping the continuity of an organisation through crises is a key application of this work that can be directly used within other organisations of this type. • SME response in a crisis : Explores how SMEs have used social capital to manage complex crises since 2020. • The attribute of social capital : Examines trust, reciprocity, and shared values in SME resilience. • Hybrid perspective on social capital : Introduces a novel model blending Putnam's and Bourdieu's theories. • Longitudinal study of SMEs : Utilizes two rounds of interviews separated by twelve months to understand SMEs in crisis.