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Abstract
Relational Capital (RC) is referred as intangible asset that an organization acquires while sustaining effective relations with suppliers, customers or business partners. Prior research suggests that enhanced RC could significantly improve organizational performance. Therefore, for accentuating the role of RC in a manufacturing concern, an organizational development intervention called Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was conducted in this study. The primary objective of this action-oriented study was to develop relational capital, which was identified by respondents as one of their strengths, through the application of appreciative inquiry. The study was carried out by involving 26 participants from procurement and sales departments in 4-D cycle of AI. Post-intervention survey revealed improved RC and more friendly exchanges among stakeholders. Findings of this study would be useful to inform practitioners about the effectiveness of AI and would set new directions for appreciating the strengths of employees and other stakeholders.
Keywords: Appreciative inquiry, relational capital, organization development, and action research.
1.Introduction
Due to rapidly changing business environment, the survival of firms having no collaborative arrangements with internal and external stakeholders could face serious threats. Researchers as well as practitioners are, therefore, devising mechanisms to improve collaboration and to gain the advantages of relational capital. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2000), and Gibbert, Leibold, and Voelpel (2001) advocated that relational capital (RC) is an effective source of competence because it helps in renewing the knowledge-base of an organization. RC theory is established on the principle that organizations are not isolated systems, but are open and dependent on the relationships they maintain with their environment (Hormiga, Batista-Canino, & Sanchez-Medina, 2011). Thus, RC includes the value generated by developing relationships not only with customers, suppliers, and shareholders but with all the external stakeholders (Martín de Castro, Lopez Saez, & Navas Lopez, 2004).
Appreciative Inquiry is rapidly gaining popularity as an organizational development intervention and a source of system-wide transformational change due to its strength-based approach (Bushe, 2013). It is a discovery system aimed at: identifying the strengths in an individual, organization, or other resources; exploring ways to leverage these strengths and attributes; and planning and implementing strategies to move forward with the achievement of objectives (Simons & Havert, 2012). AI helps in engaging employees into a collective process of reframing and generating possible future...