(Relationships Between Strategic Leadershıp, Social Capital and Performance)

Abstract

Purpose – Organizations, which would like to be able to survive under tough competition conditions in which uncertainty is dominating, to keep the sustainability and to increase the profitability, should focus on the strategic management concept that has a long term and wide perspective rather than traditional management approach. Strategic leaders, who are another important actor of the concept of strategic management, burst into prominence as a competitive supremacy factor for organizations. Today, when it is almost impossible to predict the future; it is very important for leaders to take strategic decisions in a truly manner and to make strategic changes if necessary in order to survive, benefit from several opportunities and protect from threats in developing and changing world. Strategic leaders must focus on complementary and critical resources in order to be successful also in the future.This is about the fact that strategic leaders could reach to key resources by means of social capital which is the sustainable competitiveness advantage of an organization. Strategic leaders, who could manage their social capital effectively, could reach to critical resources and they could provide a competitive advantage by this way. In this context, the aim of this research is to evaluate that social capital of senior executives who are qualified as strategic leaders how to effects the performance within the framework of trust, institutions, norms and sanctions, participation in networks, joint action and cooperation and learning. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research method was used in this research. The data of the research was obtained through one of the qualitative research methods, interview technique. Descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the data. Findings – As a result of the research, it was found that senior executives who use effectively their social capital contribute positively to the performances of businesses. Discussion – The fact that senior executives participate in the necessary environments and establish strong ties there and use these ties for the interests of their own businesses will enable their businesses to gain competitive advantage and increase their performance.