The oxford handbook of human capital

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF HUMAN CAPITAL THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF HUMAN CAPITAL Edited by ALAN BURTON-JONES and J.-C SPENDER Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 2011 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2011 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 978–0–19–953216–2 CONTENTS Acknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables Foreword List of Contributors Introduction ALAN BURTON-JONES AND J.-C SPENDER PART I: THE NATURE OF HUMAN CAPITAL An Economic Perspective on the Notion of ‘Human Capital’ MARGARET M BLAIR A Social Perspective: Exploring the Links between Human Capital and Social Capital JANINE NAHAPIET Global Culture Capital and Cosmopolitan Human Capital: The Effects of Global Mindset and Organizational Routines on Cultural Intelligence and International Experience KOK-YEE NG, MEI LING TAN, AND SOON ANG Cognition and Human Capital: The Dynamic Interrelationship between Knowledge and Behavior RHETT A BRYMER, MICHAEL A HITT, AND MARIO SCHIJVEN A Capital-Based Approach to the Firm: Reflections on the Nature and Scope of the Concept of Capital and its Extension to Intangibles PETER LEWIN PART II: HUMAN CAPITAL AND THE FIRM Human Capital and Transaction Cost Economics NICOLAI J FOSS Human Capital and Agency Theory J.-C SPENDER Human Capital in the Resource-Based View JEROEN KRAAIJENBRINK Human Capital, Entrepreneurship, and the Theory of the Firm BRIAN J LOASBY 10 The Firm, Human Capital, and Knowledge Creation GEORG VON KROGH AND MARTIN W WALLIN PART III: HUMAN CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS 11 Human Capital, HR Strategy, and Organizational Effectiveness PETER BOXALL 12 How Organizations Obtain the Human Capital they Need MONIKA HAMORI, ROCIO BONET, AND PETER CAPPELLI 13 Aligning Human Capital with Organizational Needs DAVID P LEPAK, RIKI TAKEUCHI, AND JUANI SWART 14 Maximizing Value from Human Capital RUSSELL COFF 15 Accounting for Human Capital and Organizational Effectiveness ROBIN KRAMAR, VIJAYA MURTHY, AND JAMES GUTHRIE PART IV: HUMAN CAPITAL INTERDEPENDENCIES 16 Interdependencies between People in Organizations ROBERT M GRANT AND JAMES C HAYTON 17 Understanding Interdependencies between Human Capital and Structural Capital: Some Directions from Kantian Pragmatism DAVID O’DONNELL 18 The Distributed and Dynamic Dimensions of Human Capital IKUJIRO NONAKA, RYOKO TOYAMA, AND VESA PELTOKORPI 19 Human Capital and the Organization–Accommodation Relationship JACQUELINE C VISCHER 20 Interdependencies between People and Information Systems in Organizations ALAN BURTON-JONES AND ANDREW BURTON-JONES PART V: HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE FUTURE ECONOMY 21 Human Capital, Capabilities, and the Firm: Literati, Numerati, and Entrepreneurs in the TwentyFirst-Century Enterprise DAVID J TEECE 22 Looking to the Future: Bringing Organizations Deeper into Human Capital Theory PETER D SHERER 23 Human Capital Formation Regimes: States, Markets, and Human Capital in an Era of Globalization SEáN Ó RIAIN 24 Human Capital in Developing Countries: The Significance of the Asian Experience THOMAS CLARKE 25 The Future of Human Capital: An Employment Relations Perspective THOMAS A KOCHAN AND ADAM SETH LITWIN Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The inspiration for this handbook came from David Musson, Business and Management Editor at Oxford University Press, who in late 2006 suggested to us the need for a volume that might throw fresh light on the subject of human capital from an organizational perspective For some years we had been individually researching knowledge-based theories of management and organization and exchanging ideas on issues associated with the growing importance of ‘knowledge capital’, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to cooperate on this project We set about attracting leading scholars from around the world—more than forty distinguished academics from multiple disciplines finally contributing to the twenty-five chapters in the handbook Despite operating as co-editors at long range from one another, the editorial process was remarkably smooth, with electronic communications overcoming the tyranny of distance Three and a half years later we are pleased to have an opportunity to express in a formal way our thanks to all those who have helped to bring this handbook to fruition David Musson has been a constant source of advice, encouragement, and guidance throughout the project, and the members of his team at Oxford University Press, particularly Emma Lambert and Matthew Derbyshire, have provided invaluable technical and administrative support Most of all we would like to thank all the authors who have contributed to this volume for their patience and cooperation in dealing with our queries and suggestions, and for the commitment they have shown to making this handbook a success LIST OF F IGURES 3.1 4.1 5.1 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 11.1 11.2 12.1 12.2 Conceptual Model Use and Learning Factors in the Knowledge–Cognition–Behavior Interrelationship Structures and Substructures Working Time and Working Activity Human Capital and Knowledge Assets Human Capital Accrual–Knowledge Assets Accrual Human Capital Decrease–Knowledge Assets Accrual Human Capital Accrual–Knowledge Assets Decrease Human Capital Decrease–Knowledge Assets Decrease Promises, Trust, and Commitment in the Psychological Contract An Organization’s HR Strategy as a Cluster of HR Systems Human Capital Characteristics and Employment Modes Percentage of New Hires from Various Recruitment Sources in Large US Organizations in 2006 12.3 Total Staffing Industry Sales, Including Temporary and Contract, and Search and Placement 13.1 HR Architectural Perspective 13.2 Relational Components of Organizational Learning 16.1 The Structural, Social, and Psychological Factors Influencing Interdependence 17.1 Contours of an Organizational Lifeworld 20.1 Interdependencies among People, Tasks, and Resources 20.2 Interdependencies among HR Support, Task Performance, and IS Support Activities 20.3 Resource Fit and Dependency Model 21.1 Activities Conducted to Create and Capture Value (Organized by Clusters of Dynamic Capabilities) 22.1 Organizational and Population Processes 23.1 Human Capital Formation Regimes 23.2 The Liberal Human Capital Formation Regime 23.3 The Social Democratic Human Capital Formation Regime 23.4 The Christian Democratic Human Capital Formation Regime 24.1 Share of World Manufacturing 1750–900 24.2 Global Distribution of Public Expenditure on Education by Region 24.3 Stages of Competitive Development 24.4 Location of Product Development for Notebook PCs 24.5 Leaping Techno-Economic Paradigms 24.6 The Shift from a Production Economy to a Knowledge Economy 24.7 Sectoral Comparison of GDP across Countries 24.8 Leveraging Knowledge Assets through Clusters organizational lifeworlds 436, 442, 450–1 communicative action and 443, 449 contours of 449 Organizational Studies (journal) 506, 508 organizations accommodation of 477–8 HC and 290, 333, 395 managing interdependencies within 407–17 see also coordination; firms Orlikowski, W J 13, 86, 507 on knowledge 125 Osterloh, M 179, 265 Osterman, P 337, 667 n Ouchi, W 172, 199, 200, 365, 370, 413 outsourcing/offshoring 297, 300, 301, 311, 530, 532, 637, 661 by Fortune 500 companies 640 Owen, Robert 546 ownership 175–7 Pakistan 621–2 Palacios, Miguel 555 Palm 543 Parsons, T 444 Pascale, R 413 Passeron, J 12, 97 cultural capital concept of 113 Paton, W A 384 patronage 206–7 Peirce, C S 437 Peltokorpi, Vesa 33 Pennings, J M 333 Penrose, Edith 7, 9, 22, 24, 124, 126, 180, 202, 203, 440 on firms 256, 290 see also rents Pentland, B T 412 People’s Express 550 perceived organizational support (POS) 347–8 performance non-uniform distribution of 531–3 see also job performance Perrow, C B 193, 201, 207 personality 131 Peteraf, M 573 Peters, T 413 Petty, Sir William 188, 189 Pfeffer, J 547 Pfizer 544 Philippines 633, 640 see also ASEAN4 Phillips, D J 570, 571, 577, 579, 580 phronesis 460 abilities that constitute 465–7 collective 465, 467–74 HC interdependencies as distributed 462–7 nature of 464 phronetic leaders 466, 467, 472 physical capital HC and 51–3, 420–1 similarities to/differences from HC 153, 245 Pigou, Arthur 2, 49, 189, 190 Pinfield, L T 337, 340 Piore, Michael 60, 171, 569, 570, 573, 612, 652 Pisano, Gary 555, 577, 578, 580 Pitelis, Christos 555, 623 planning 505 poaching 652 Poland 314 Polanyi, M 122, 443, 444 on belief/knowledge 462, 463 politics of human capital formation 605, 606 in American and Japanese industry 588–90 labour and 601–2 social protection and 600 Poppo, L 175 population processes 575, 581–2 Porras, J I 415 Porter, M E 219, 221, 546, 624, 630 Portugal 314 positivism 197 practical wisdom 535 see also phronesis Prigogine, I 242, 243 principal-agent theory (PAT) 186, 191, 206, 365 appeal of 192–3 criticism 193 game theory and 197–8 HC and 208 literature 204, 207 nature of 195, 201 opportunism and 205 Pritchard, R D 370 problems ‘hold-up’ 60, 153, 171, 177 incentive 173 knowledge- 153–5 retention 315, 326 see also agency; skills product development 631–2 production knowledge and 152 lean model of 593, 595, 596, 602–3 learning model of 593, 595, 596–7, 602–3 organization of 155–7 Taylorist 588, 593 team 60, 370 see also capital production strategies 601, 606 high road 590, 595, 596, 605 low road 596, 602, 605, 607 skill formation regimes and 592–7, 599–600 professional associations 664 profit 372 see also Knight, F H Profiting from Innovation framework 543–5 property rights approach 166, 181 HC and 175–7 property rights theory 225 Prusak, L 440 psychological contracts 347 Puranam, P 406 Purcell, J 228, 303 Putnam, Hilary 437 Putnam, R D 79, 418 Quinn, James B 550 Rajan, Raghuram 63, 176, 592 Rankin, Scott 583 Rao, H 566, 577, 580 rational choice 241, 243, 246, 253 ‘rational man’ (RM) 199, 203 rationality bounded 167, 194, 365 communicative 446–7 instrumental 446 recruitment 317 internet/online 319, 320, 324–8 sources 327 see also executive search firms Reed, M 32, 444 reflective observation 108 regimes Christian democratic 599, 602–5, 606–7 continuity/change in HC 608–13 liberal 608 social democratic 602–6 Reich, R B 2, 6, 532 relational/relationship capital 384, 420 relocation 564, 575–8, 581–2 rent appropriation 360 firm performance and 372–5 rents 59–60, 61–3 entrepreneurial 224, 231 generation of 372–4, 375–6 Penrose 224, 231 quasi- 180 Ricardian 224 see also resource-based view of the firm; strategies; Swart, Juani replication 564, 575–7, 578–80, 581–2 reputation capital 53, 177, 205 resource dependence theory 225 fit/dependency 517 procurement 513–14 resource-based view of the firm (RBV) 124, 218, 359, 373, 440, 624 approaches to 229 criticism 233 HC and 459, 461 nature of 291, 389 rents and 223–4, 230–2 resources in 220, 230 value in 221–2 resources 146 tangible/intangible 225, 389 reverse bonding 206 rewards 108–9 Rhymer, Brett 13 Ricardo, David 218, 227, 266, 623 see also rents Richardson, G B 22, 245, 251 Richman, B 173 risk 196–7, 239–41 Roberts, J 555 Roberts, K 440 Roehl, T W 440 Romania 314 Romer, Paul 2, 58 Rose, M 295 Rosen, Sherwin Rosenberg, Nathan 555 n 3, 557 n 23 Roslender, R 30, 384, 385, 387 Rousseau, D M 279, 345 Rumelt, R P 364 Rust, R T 392 Ruth, Babe 572 Safford, S 612 St Augustine 462 Salovey, P 424 Samra-Frederick, Dalvir 449 Samuelson, P A 623 Sappington, D E M 207 Saxenian, A 566, 612 Scarpello, V 385, 387 Schein, E H 413 Schijven, Mario 13 Schmittlein, D C 174 Schuller, T 79, 88–9 Schultz, Theodore W 2, 75, 188, 189, 385, 434 on HC 11, 73, 266 Schulze, W 23 Schumpeter, Joseph 22, 37, 256, 544, 632 on entrepreneurship 258, 529, 534 Schütz, A 437, 444 Schwartz, A 385 Scott, H Lee 661 Scott, S V 507 Scott-Kemmis, D 624 SECI (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization) model/cycle 440, 473, 488, 494 see also combination; externalization; internalization; socialization Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 438, 439 Sedikides, C 85 seizing 542 Seleim, A 334 self-renewal 472 Selfridges 303 Sen, A 41 capabilities approach of 77, 591, 621 sensing 540–2, 556 n 11 separability 171–2 separable capital 226, 230 Service Employees International Union 655 Seven-Eleven Japan 470 Shackle, George 21, 22, 244, 252, 255 on uncertainty 242, 248 Shakespeare, William 192 Shane, S A 541 Shaw, J D 337 Shelanski, H 173 Shell 255 Sherer, Peter 25, 28, 579 Shore, L M 347 Shperling, Z 279 Shubik, M 197 Silicon Valley 533, 566, 567, 579, 612 Simmel, Georg 80 Simon, H A 16, 21, 167, 178, 180, 200 on decomposability 243 on employment relation 168–9 on rational choice 246 Williamson takes issue with 170–1 Singapore 619, 628, 629, 638, 639, 641–2 situated learning theory 98, 110–11 Skandia 388, 439, 440 skill specificity 569 -weights 64 skill-biased technological change 659 skills 591–2 problem 602 soft 609 specific/general 594, 598, 599–600 see also development; flexibility; production strategies; upskilling skills, knowledge, and abilities 462 Slichter, S H 667 n Smith, Adam 15, 22, 74, 150, 187, 190, 192, 193, 195, 201, 206, 226, 254, 623 HC concepts in work of 7, 189, 384, 528 on division of labour 49, 266 on economic development 248, 249 on knowledge creation 249 on pin manufacture 405 Theory of Moral Sentiments by 254 Wealth of Nations by 191 Smith, K 416 Snell, S A 26, 231, 299, 333, 339, 340, 341, 343, 581 on HC 352, 573, 584 n on knowledge 354 social climates 295–7 constructionism 79 contract 230, 232, 651, 652, 656, 657–8 identity theory 79 social capital 53, 73, 295 as public good 418–19 definitions 80, 426, 619 evolution of concept 79–80 HC and 3, 290, 353, 403, 417, 419 health and 83–4 limitations of concept 420 nature of 79, 80–1 negative 82, 83 networks and 80, 81, 86, 417–18 ownership 418 research 80, 90 social complexity and 364 within organizations 419–20 social cognition theory 112, 126 social complexity 363, 369 causal ambiguity, information dilemmas and internal 363–5 general assets and external 362–3 social learning theory 111 social theory approaches conflationist 442, 451 determinist 442, 451 reductionist 451 relationist/realist 442 see also Kantian pragmatism socialization 489–91 Society for Knowledge Economics 388 socio-spatial contract 491, 493 environmental control and 484 territoriality and 483–4 Socrates 122 Song, J 577, 580 Sony 620 Sørensen, J B 414 Sorsa, Pertti 440 Soskice, D 599 South Korea 619, 628, 639, 641 South Sea Company 191 space as organizational cost 479, 480–1 as organizational resource 479, 480 as tool for work 479, 483, 493 intra-organizational relationships and 479, 488, 489–90 see also socio-spatial contract; workspace Spain 314, 336 specialization 404–6, 537–8 co- 537–8 specification 565, 575, 581 Spence, L 83 Spender, J.-C 2, 157, 181, 269, 435, 440, 452 on capital 75 on knowledge 86 on social/human capital 89 Spiller, P T 541–2 standardization 505 Stephens, J 597, 602 Sternberg, R J 12, 100–1 Stevenson, B 327, 328 Stewart, T A 440 Stiglitz, J 619 Stout, L A 63 strategic factor market theory 371 Strategic Management Society 72 strategies information 366, 370–1 organizational design 366, 368–70 rent-sharing 366, 367 retention 366–8 Streeck, W 595 Stringer Jr., R A 416 Stroh, L K 106 Strom, R J 533 structural capital 420, 444 HC and 3, 434–6 interdependencies between HC and 448–9, 451–2 structuralism 442 Subramaniam, M 353 substitutability 87, 88 Sun Microsystems 485 surveys 392 sustainability reporting 388 sustained competitive advantage (SCA) 220, 222, 291, 460, 474 defined by Barney and Porter 221 HC and 225, 231, 389, 461 RBV and 229, 232 see also firms Sveiby, K.-E 386, 433, 434, 439 Intangible/Intellectual Assets Monitor of 30, 440 Swaine, Robert 565 Swart, Juani 20, 26, 228 on rents 230 Swedberg, R 11, 78 Sweden 30, 588, 591, 596, 603 HC accounting and 440 workforce/workplaces 594, 611 Sweetland, S R 75 syllogism, practical 470–1 Szulanski, G 583 tacit knowing 439, 444 tacit knowledge 133, 150, 247, 341, 364, 365, 474 converting to/from explicit knowledge 136, 489 difficulties of articulating/transferring/imitating 123, 124, 154, 359, 459, 539 externalization of 473 learning 132 nature of 58, 384 Tacorante, D V 336, 343 Taiwan 610, 612, 619, 638, 639, 641–2 Takeuchi, Hirotaka 529 Takeuchi, Riki 26 talent competition for 531, 533 contextual 553 inter-firm movement of 566, 574, 576, 580–1 intrinsic 553 non-uniform distribution of 531–2 see also firm-specific/general human capital; literati/numerati Tan, Mei Lang 12 tangible capital 226 task idiosyncrasies 171 Taylor, F W 421, 556 n Teachman, J D 89 teams 551–3 national differences between 589, 591 traditional/virtuoso 552 see also production teamwork 548–9 technological change 656–7 deepening 634–5 displacement 657 see also skill-biased technological change Teece, David 174, 180, 440, 534, 537, 538, 550, 557 n 23 on competitive advantage 624–5 tenure, importance of 64 Thailand 619, 628, 640 see also ASEAN4 Theeke, H A 385, 387 Thelen, K 599, 612 theory of the firm 123, 200 criticism 178–9 role of HC in 58–63 see also Foss, Nicolai Thibaut, J 504 Thomas, Sir John Meurig 240 Thompson, J D 30, 205, 410, 509 on interdependence 412, 427, 505, 518 Tiessen, R 386 time, use of 271 Tjosvold, D 30, 410, 412, 427 Tocqueville, Alexis de 198 Tolksdorf, R 409 total factor productivity 244 Toyama, Ryoko 33 Toyota 572, 611, 662 Production System 470, 544 training 272, 602, 663–4 external workers 339 general 652, 658 national differences in 599 on-the-job 77, 132, 188, 190, 267, 309, 460, 470, 567, 569 see also Becker, Gary S.; production strategies transaction cost approach 173 transaction cost economics (TCE) 181, 192, 201 bounded rationality and 177–8 capabilities view and 179–80 criticism 177, 178, 179 development of 167 employee motivation and 178–9 HC and 166, 177–80 literature 461 nature of 166 role of HC in 167–75 see also Williamson, O E transforming 542 Trist, E 412 trust 662 see also management truth 464, 465, 466, 469, 471, 472 Tsoukas, H 125, 435 Tsui, A S 341, 346–7 Tung, R L 99 Turner, J H 444 turnover 362–3, 366–7, 369–70 Ulrich, D 547 uncertainty 240, 243, 255 imagination and 242 in representations 246 presents opportunities 242, 248–9 see also Knight, F H.; Knightian uncertainty; Lachmann, L M union shock effect 667 n unionization 658 de- 593, 595, 596, 659 unions 653, 655, 659, 662–5 United Auto Workers (UAW) 657, 658 United Kingdom (UK) 314, 593, 595, 596, 599, 603, 640 manufacturing share 621–2 recruitment in 319 Transfer of Undertakings/Protection of Employment Regulations 657 see also Great Britain United States of America (USA) 309, 532, 591, 592, 595, 596, 603, 636 employment in 658 employment services industry 311 exports to 633, 640 HC acquisition in 318–19 losing competitiveness 66 manufacturing share 621–2 services industry 125 staffing industry 321–2 telecommunications industry 300–1 training in 599 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 657 workforce 533, 593, 594, 660 work-life integration in 660 see also New York; politics of human capital; Silicon Valley upskilling 293, 594, 602, 635, 649, 653, 656 Utsuda, Shouei 468–9 Utterback, J M 557 n 23 Uzzi, B 340 Valeyre, A 593, 595, 596, 611 valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable (VRIN) 229 /Organization (O) 221, 223, 227 Veblen, T 199, 205, 208, 438 Verma, A 667 n Vietnam 621 Vischer, Jacqueline 34–5 Vladimirou, E 125 Volvo 589 Vroom, V H 369 Vryonides, M 102 W L Gore Co 558 n 29 Wachter, M L 170 Wade-Benzoni, J M 345 wage-work bargain 292, 293, 297 Waldman, M 102 Wallin, Martin 8, 22–3 Wallman, Steven 439 Wal-Mart 658, 660–1 Wang, H C 368 Warner Brothers 556 n 12 Waterman, R 413 Watson Wyatt 392 Wayne, S J 347 Weber, Max 80, 190, 192, 435 Weber, R 500 Weeks, John 415 Weick, K 440 Weisbrod, B A 188 Weitz, A 174 welfare production regimes 597, 599, 601, 603 states 600, 606, 608 Wenger, E 111, 591 Wernerfelt, B 19, 20 Wezel, F C 265 White, H 18, 206–7 Wijnbergen, C van 612 Williamson, O E 9, 17, 21, 166, 175, 176, 179, 557 n 23 ‘hold-up’ problem of 153 on bounded rationality 177–8 on employee/employer opportunism 173 on HC and employment relation 180 on hierarchy/forbearance 172, 238–9 on transaction cost approach 60–1 TCE theory/approach of 174, 460 Winter, S G 264, 529, 555 n 3, 557 n 23 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 202, 437 Wolfson, M A 200 Woolcock, M 80, 84 work environment 477 -life integration 660, 665 tasks 512 workers external 335, 344, 348 temporary/contract 335, 340, 347, 348 women 598, 610, 654, 655, 660 workspace 480 change 484 competitive advantage and 485 design 487, 488, 489–91, 492–3 environmental psychology of 494 functionally comfortable/uncomfortable 494 job performance and 486, 487–8 World Bank 618, 626, 633, 638 Wright, P M 341 Xerox 543 Xing.com 325 Yahoo 544 Yetton, P W 369 Youndt, M A 228, 353 Young, A 252 Young, A 620 Yusuf, S 636, 637 Zábojnik, J 312 Zambon, Stefano 438 Zander, U 13, 175, 180, 264, 266, 440 Zenger, T 175 Ziman, J M 249 Zingales, Luigi 63, 176, 592 Zollo, M 23, 265 Zuboff, S Zucker, L 370 Zweig, D 612 ... cognitive human capital, and the nature of human capital and its relationship with capital more broadly Part II, Human Capital and the Firm’, focuses on the role of human capital in theories of the. .. in the future economy We identify human capital as the linchpin of social and other forms of capital Central to our thesis is the systemic nature of human capital in organizations: how human capital. .. to other forms of capital Individual chapters explore the economic role of human capital in the firm (a topic further developed in Part II), the links between human and social capital, human capital