How to further exploit social capital: An empirical investigation of three dimensions of social capital and their contributions to individual performance

Abstract

This study seeks to systematically investigate the contribution of social capital to individual performance. We conceptualized social capital along three dimensions (structural, relational and contextual) and examined the relationships between social capital along these dimensions and two types of performance (managerial and innovative), using data collected from the strategic product development departments of six large Korean manufacturing firms. As expected, we found a significant relationship between the centrality of a network and individual performance. When network centrality was decomposed into three types (advice centrality, influence centrality and idea centrality), however, the relative strength of each type changed significantly based on performance type. We also found that the number of weak ties had a significant positive effect both on innovative and managerial performance. When considered together with network centrality and absorptive capacity, however, weak ties turned out to be nonsignificant as predictors of managerial performance, but the strongest predictors of innovative performance. In contrast, absorptive capacity had a positive effect on both types of individual performance, while its strength as a determinant of individual performance was weaker than that of network centrality and weak ties. Asian Business & Management (2011) 10, 485-507. doi:10.1057/abm.2011.19; published online 7 September 2011