Uncovering the Black Box between Social Capital and Career Success: A 3R Model

Abstract

Social capital can be broadly defined as the resources embedded in the focal individual’s social contacts. In the extant career literature, social capital has been shown to be a strong predictor of career success. However, having social capital is one thing, but being able to use it is another thing. In order to better understand why some individuals have a more successful career than others, it is not only important to examine the resources embedded in their social contacts (i.e., the possession of social capital), it is also important to understand how exactly they reap the benefits of social capital (i.e., the mobilization of social capital). We develop and empirically verify this important distinction by a mixed research design. In the qualitative study, we inductively develop 3Rs of social capital mobilization– retrieval, referral and reproduction. We also revisit the operationalization of social capital itself. In the quantitative study, we measure the whole company network, from CEO to frontline engineers, in a small software company. We then test the degree to which these three Rs mediate the main effect between social capital and career success (i.e., objective salary, promotability and career satisfaction). Theoretical contributions are discussed.