A capital Idea? A multimethod exploration of Social Capital in a Swedish Organization

Abstract: Social capital is a psychosocial resource that has been found to have a profound effect on well-being and organizational performance. Research on social capital in Sweden is however lacking. The aim of the present thesis was to explore social capital in a Swedish organizational context and how it can be utilized in the new world of work. The thesis is divided into two studies. Study 1 aimed to do a Swedish translation and validation of the Danish Social Capital Questionnaire (SCQ). The study included 277 Swedish workers who completed the questionnaire online. The results support the validity of the Swedish version of the SCQ and the original four-factor structure of social capital was replicated. Study 2 is a multi-method case study that investigated the association between social capital and the psychosocial risks of presenteeism, burnout, and person-job discrepancy in a Swedish organization using an online questionnaire, and how leaders understand and use social capital among their employees using semi-structured interviews. A total of 109 participants answered the survey and interviews were conducted with five leaders within the organization. The study found social capital to have no significant association with presenteeism, a weak negative association to burnout, and a negative association to person-job discrepancy. The interviews yielded that leaders build social capital through structure and that old strategies are implemented in new ways as digitalization increases. The thesis provides an initial exploration and prepares for larger studies regarding social capital in Swedish organizations to be conducted.