Developing organizational social capital or prima donnas in MNEs? The role of global leadership development programs

The aim of this article is to identify those aspects of global leadership development (GLD) programs that promote social capital and knowledge sharing in multinational enterprises (MNEs). The analysis is conducted within the context of two Scandinavian MNEs. Both MNEs had aimed at the development of inter-unit social networks and knowledge sharing. In the one program, participants bonded with other participants while remaining socially embedded in their business units of origin. As a consequence, bridging social capital was developed, and knowledge sharing across the MNE increased. For the other program, despite apparent similarities in design and goals, we found the reverse. In addition to differences in the selection mechanisms employed by the two programs, our research identified contrasting modes of organizing the in-program learning processes and dissimilarities in the roles played by top management and GLD consultants during the programs. Overall, while the one program was congruent with the Scandinavian corporate culture context, the other was at odds with it, and instead of developing social capital it turned out prima donnas. We argue that MNEs aiming to use GLD programs for developing social capital across their operations must be highly sensitive to the issue of congruence with the established corporate culture.