Managerial Networking, Community Social Capital, and Performance Improvement in Public Organizations

Public management scholarship has long emphasized the importance of managerial networking and social capital for organizational performance, yet their joint effects on performance improvement remain underexplored. While O’Toole and Meier (Citation2015) proposed that community social capital may moderate the management–performance relationship, debate persists over whether it complements or substitutes for managerial effort. To address this issue, this article analyzes the effects of managerial networking, multiple dimensions of community social capital, and their interactions using panel data from Korean local quasi-governmental organizations observed in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Using random effects panel regressions, the study finds that managerial networking consistently enhances performance, while associational networks exert a negative influence. In contrast, high levels of social trust and reciprocity amplify the benefits of managerial networking. These findings advance public management theory by offering a more nuanced account of how managerial networking and community social capital jointly shape performance improvement, and they provide practical guidance for tailoring management strategies to community conditions.