Adding Value to Others: The Positive Externalities of Social Capital

• Main Authors: Galunic, Charles, ERTUG, Gokhan, Gargiulo, Martin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2006
• Subjects: social capital; social structure; peer relations; interpersonal relations; interprofessional relations; peer counseling; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/1279
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In this paper, we ask whether social structure can help explain why some employees are better able than others to add value to their peers, as rated by their peers. Our theoretical contribution concerns the distinct influences of two orders of social capital: first-order and second-order. First-order social capital is conceptualized as the social structure of the focal actor. Second-order social is conceptualized as the social structure of the actor's boss, a central figure in the life of most managers. Using network sparseness to capture social capital, we find that not only first-order but also second-order social capital has significant effects on peer-to-peer value-added.