– The purpose of this paper is to examine the case for the inclusion, in enterprise education, of training and/or guidance in the acquisition and use of social capital.
– The paper considers the reasons, not just why social capital should be included as a factor at least as important as financial capital, but also the possible reasons why so far it has largely been omitted – and then explores the implications behind that omission.
– The core assertion of the paper is that, despite its clear relevance, social capital is rarely included in enterprise education because the basis for much enterprise education is a traditional business plan menu which is in turn based on big business thinking.
– The implications of this are not just that social capital should be given a key place in enterprise education but that, before this can happen, the different nature of small business needs to be accepted and the basis of small business training adjusted accordingly.
– To date a lot of enterprise education and training has been based on the assumption that the traditional components of a business plan form a suitable agenda for enterprise education – either because it is directly based on a business plan or drawn from the same sort of thinking. The paper questions the validity of that assumption which excludes important factors such as social capital.
