Social capital-based strategy of sustainable village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) development

Purpose The Indonesian government's Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) initiative optimizes Village Resources (SDD)—human and natural—to improve rural communities' welfare. Villagers must participate in many ways. Due to its natural potential, industry, waste management and building management business units, BUMDes Waskito Wijaya in Waru village, Baki sub-district, Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java has the potential to grow. Strengthening social capital helps BUMDes management become sustainable. Design/methodology/approach The focus of this research is to find out what social capital characteristics that can improve the development of BUMDes Waskito Wijaya. Thus, this study uses a SWOT analysis to establish BUMDes by promoting village influencers, strong institutions, and internal and external social networks. Thus, strong bonding, linking and bridging will improve BUMDes' involvement in the village. This research describes the organization's internal and external situations and formulates the BUMDes development strategy empirically. Findings This study revealed that norms, trust, social networks and infrastructure positively impact BUMDes development. However, the social capital created is still in the bonding stage. While the linking and bridging stages are not yet sufficient to support a productive and prosperous BUMDes. Originality/value Thus, the developed strategy encourages the strong leadership spirit of the village influencers, creates aspirational and supportive institutions, and strengthens social networks both horizontally and vertically. Consequently, the linking and bridging that can actively engage in partnerships and build public trust will successfully be achieved. The condition will develop the capacity of BUMDes in providing facilities for the community. Peer review The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2022-0700