The Situation of Social Capital Among Workers in the Industrial Environments in Iran



Damari B¹ ; Almadani H¹ ; Mirzaei H² ; Bonab MR³ Show Affiliations
Source: Iran Occupational Health Published:2020

Abstract

Background and aims: Today, organizations focus on improving their performance and customer satisfaction. Organizations are to be able to fulfill its obligations to customers and clients and satisfy them in order to upgrade their position and be sustainable. To achieve this goal, organizations must use all their strength, power and both human and economic capital. In addition to human and economic capital, another capital called “social capital “has also been considered. Various definitions of social capital have been proposed so far, but recently, social capital is defined as: a network of relationships between people living or working in a particular community that enables that community to function effectively. In addition to solving the problems, social capital is able to facilitate economic, political, and cultural conditions toward sustainable growth and development in any community by encouraging individuals to cooperate and participate in social interactions. Since no comprehensive study has been conducted to determine the status of social capital in the labor and production community in Iran, the purpose of this survey is to obtain an estimate of social capital in the labor and production community in the country. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey that targets all workers in industrial workshops in Iran. A two-part questionnaire including background information and a standard social capital questionnaire (Nahapit and Gushal) consisting of 22 items were used to collect information. Internal consistency method was used to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated 85.0. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was used for sampling and 13842 questionnaires were completed in 380 workplaces in 31 provinces of the country. Data were collected and analyzed in STATA software version 12 and multivariate linear regression was used to investigate the factors affecting social capital. Results: The mean age of study participants was 35.4 years. The majority of participants were male (85.5%) and 81.8% of the participants were married. Based on the results of this study, the national average of social capital in the labor and production community was 2.74 (according to the range 1 to 5). The average social capital in province was the highest (3.16) and the lowest (2.30) in Hormozgan and Ilam provinces, respectively. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that there was no significant difference in terms of social capital score between men and women (p = 0.7). The mean score of social capital in people with university education and people with secondary education was significantly higher than people with primary and lower education (p = 0.0001). There was no significant difference in the social capital status of single and married people (p = 0.4, but in divorced people the average score of social capital was higher (p = 0.01). In terms of working class, the score of social capital in skilled workers was higher than ordinary workers (p = 0.02). Conclusion: The previous studies have shown that the existence of social capital in societies has an important role in quality of life and maintaining and promoting health and prevention of social harm.This research was the first study about the social capital status of workers at the national level in the labor and production community of Iran and could be a basis for further studies in this subject. Comparing the results of this study in Iran with other countries, shows that social capital in the labor and production community in Iran is low. Therefore, it is suggested that researchers study the important factors affecting social capital in the labor and production community in Iran and provide the results to officials and employers to take the necessary measures in order to improve the social capital of employees. Based on the results it seems necessary to take more action on workplace conditions including relationships between levels of hierarchy (from senior managers to simple workers). Some of the proposed interventions based on global experience are as follows: Increasing the participation of all members of the organization in decision making and planning (in the form of opinion polls, participation as an observer, etc.), Holding group meetings to critique performance in the organization and Establish the possibility of immediate communication and facilitated meetings with managers. © 2020 Iran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.