Networking and managers' career success in the Malaysian public sector : The moderating effect of managerial level

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how managerial level moderates the relationships between networking behaviours and career success (objective and subjective) in the context of a public sector organisation in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilised a cross‐sectional design and investigated these relationships indicated on a sample of 288 managers from the Malaysian public sector. Findings – The study found that increasing internal visibility was related to monthly income and subjective career success. Managerial level moderated the relationships between some types of networking and objective career success. Research limitations/implications – The study was cross‐sectional in nature and involved a sample of managers from public sector organisations. However, there is scope to longitudinally investigate the impact of specific networking behaviours on both objective and subjective career success. Practical implications – The study findings highlight the advantages that senior managers have in respect of networking opportunities and the importance of particular types of networking objective and subjective career success. Originality/value – The study findings extend the knowledge of the value of networking and demonstrate that the relationships found in Western organisations also are true in Asian organisations and cultures and in public as well as private sector organisations.