Social capital and career growth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the instrumental use of social capital regarding career growth within an organization, focusing on the mediating role of perceived competence mobilization and the moderating role of two situational variables: perceived external prestige and job insecurity climate. Design/methodology/approach Relationships among the constructs are predicted based on relevant literature, and are tested using survey results from 324 employees working in 14 leading corporations in Korea. Findings Results show that social capital positively influenced, via perceived competence mobilization, each of two career growth dimensions (i.e. the personal efforts to develop a career and the experience of being rewarded by the organization). In contrast, moderated path analysis indicated that perceptions of external prestige and job insecurity climate failed to moderate the indirect effect of social capital on career growth. Practical implications - In light of the instrumental use of social capital and the ensuring mechanism of competence mobilization, a detailed understanding of this effect on career growth cannot only neutralize the fears of brain drain, but is also helpful in providing possibilities for building new career development strategies. Originality/value Although social capital has become an influential concept in social sciences, little evidence has been presented on the above relationship, particularly from the perspective of careerist orientation. This may be the first research examining how and when the influence of social capital becomes instrumental with respect to career attainment within an organization.