The Role of Leadership in the Management of Organizational Social Capital

Abstract

Though the debate on social capital is gathering momentum within academic literature, papers on how the development or utilization of social capital within organizations can be facilitated are rare. I propose that the behavior of managers within an organization is crucial for the development and effective use of social capital as managers can build the foundations for social capital, have an important influence on working atmosphere within a company and give employee’s endeavor direction. Leadership styles – consideration and initiating structure – are one of the key dimensions influencing a manager’s way of making decisions and controlling a company (Abernethy, Bouwens, and van Lent 2010). Therefore, I propose that different leadership styles are more or less capable of facilitating the development and use of organizational social capital.