Social Capital and Reflexivity as Conditions of Organisational Morphostasis—Studies of Selected Polish NGOs

Abstract

The innovativeness of non-governmental organisations, the basic institutions of civil society, is conditioned, among other things, by the endogenous potential of agency of the entities operating within them. The article attempts to answer two research questions regarding the above-mentioned issues: (1) How individual components of binding and bridging social capital (in the area of trust, norms, and connections) determine innovative activity in a state of morphostasis, i.e., structural and cultural continuity, in selected Silesian NGOs. (2) What type of reflexivity and the related nature of agency of the members of the NGOs surveyed dominate when undertaking innovative activities? At the theoretical level, the study was based on the concept of the three components of social capital by James S. Coleman and the assumptions of Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic theory of structure and agency, in particular, the types of reflexivity as a factor conditioning social agency. Based on them and using qualitative analysis of the FGI and SWOT questionnaires of the surveyed organisations, a diagnosis of intra-organisational barriers to innovation was made. The Atlas.ti computer programme was used. This method allows for the examination of structural elements, cultural features of a given organisation, and the capabilities of individual entities. The dominance of bonding social capital components over bridging social capital components was observed (mainly in the dimension of trust) as the basic bond connecting the members of the NGOs studied. It was accompanied by a communicative type of reflexivity of the respondents, with the aim of maintaining the existing organisational and social status quo. These key sociocultural factors determine the morphostatic nature of the organisations studied, i.e., their focus on maintaining the organisational status quo. Such contexts petrify the existing power structure, but also the level of social tensions and distances, and limit the innovation potential.