An exploratory study on the potential of social enterprise to act as the institutional glue of network governance

•We aim to explicate the role of social enterprise in network governance.•Some social enterprises can act as the institutional glue of networks.•The glue role requires the managerial capacity to diffuse social know-how.•This managerial capacity is facilitated by trust and supportive public policies.•Practical examples are provided from South Korea and the UK.

This study combines two topics of contemporary salience for public administration: social enterprise and governance networks. While operating at different levels, both are institutions which attempt to draw together the three pillars of state, market, and civil society. Nevertheless, the respective literatures focus on particular aspects of the three pillars. We connect the two concepts and suggest that some social enterprises can act as the institutional glue of networks due to their ability to benefit organizations in each of the three sectors. This requires social enterprises to have the managerial capacity to diffuse social know-how, and is facilitated by the trust of other organizations and a supportive policy framework. The links are explicated at the conceptual level before providing evidence from South Korea and the UK. Finally, research propositions are offered, which suggest new avenues for future research.