The External Networking Behaviour of Public Managers: The Missing Link of Weak Ties

There has been an increasing focus on managerial external networking behaviour
within public administration. While most previous quantitative research has analysed
such behaviour one-dimensionally, we suggest a two-dimensional conceptualization
based on the concepts of weak and strong ties. Utilizing measures resembling
previous research, we explore the utility of the approach in an exploratory study of
Danish local government. Our findings suggest that the two dimensions of external
networking behaviour are distinct. We discuss our approach compared to previous
approaches and argue that a conceptualization based on the distinction between strong and weak ties provides a promising framework for future research.