Maria’s collection of Social networks literature

Adler, P. S. and S. W. Kwon (2002). "Social capital: Prospects for a New Concept." Academy of Management Review 27(1): 17-40.

                A growing number of sociologists, political scientists, economists. and organizational theorists have invoked the concept of social capital in the search for answers to a broadening range of questions being confronted in their own fields. Seeking to clarify the concept and help assess its utility for organizational theory, we synthesize the theoretical research undertaken in these various disciplines and develop a common conceptual framework that identifies the sources, benefits, risks, and contingencies of social capital.

Ahuja, G. (2000). "The duality of collaboration: Inducements and opportunities in the formation of interfirm linkages." Strategic Management Journal 21(3): 317-343.

                I argue that the linkage-formation propensity of firms is explained by simultaneously examining both inducement and opportunity factors. Drawing upon resource-based and social network theory literatures I identify three forms of accumulated capital-technical, commercial, and social-that can affect a firm's inducements and opportunities to form linkages. Firms possessing these capital stocks enjoy advantages in linkages formation. However, firms lacking these accumulated resources can still form linkages if they generate a radical technological breakthrough. Thus, I identify paths to linkage formation for leading as well as peripheral firms. I test these arguments with longitudinal data on technical collaborative linkages in the global chemicals industry.

Ahuja, M. K. and K. M. Carley (1999). "Network structure in virtual organizations." Organization Science 10(6): 741-757.

                Virtual organizations that use e-mail to communicate and coordinate their work toward a common goal are becoming ubiquitous. However, little is known about how these organizations work. Much prior research suggests that virtual organizations, for the most part because they use information technology to communicate, will be decentralized and nonhierarchical. This paper examines the behavior of one such organization. The analysis is based on a case study of the communication structure and content of communications among members of a virtual organization during a four-month period. We empirically measure the structure of a virtual organization and find evidence of hierarchy. The findings imply that the communication structure of a virtual organization may exhibit different properties on different dimensions of structure. We also examine the relationship among task routineness, organizational structure, and performance. Results indicate that the fit between structure and task routineness affects the perception of performance, but may not affect the actual performance of the organization. Thus, this virtual organization is similar to traditional organizations in some ways and dissimilar in other ways. It was similar to traditional organizations in so far as task-structure fit predicted perceived performance. However, it was dissimilar to traditional organizations in so far as fit did not predict objective performance. To the extent that the virtual organizations may be similar to traditional organizations, existing theories can be expanded to study the structure and perceived performance of virtual organizations. New theories may need to be developed to explain objective performance in virtual organizations.

Alba, R. D. (1981). "From Small-Groups to Social Networks - Mathematical Approaches to the Study of Group-Structure." American Behavioral Scientist 24(5): 681-694.

Allcorn, S. (1997). "Parallel virtual organizations - Managing and working in the virtual workplace." Administration & Society 29(4): 412-439.

                The growing presence in the workplace of computers that are linked together to form intraorganizational networks(intranets), thus enabling unprecedented electronic employee connectedness, contains within ha collision between the traditional hierarchically organized physical workplace and the potentially chaotic virtual workplace. This article describes this new workplace context as a parallel virtual organization (PVO) that possesses its own values and culture independent of its host culture, the traditional bureaucratic hierarchical organization (BHO). The growth of PVOs means that a transitional spare must be developed initially between them and their BHO counterparts to enable the eventual merger of the two organization forms to create a new, more dynamic and fluid organization that, by its nature, innovates to keep pace with rapid and unrelenting change in the marketplace. The psychological social, and technical aspects of the rise of the parallel virtual organization are discussed.

Baku, E. and M. Smith (1998). "Loan delinquency in community lending organizations: Case studies of NeighborWorks organizations." Housing Policy Debate 9(1): 151-175.

                This article reports on qualitative data gathered through interviews conducted in 1996 with key leadership and staff from 13 community lending organizations. Loan servicing and collection procedures within the organizations were examined. Findings suggest that several organizational factors of nonprofit lenders are related to their loan delinquency rates: social networks, business culture, funding sources, composition of the board and loan committees, staff structure, loan intake, and collection tools. The study also finds that the nonprofit sector's institutional environment and its partnership with the private sector in a mutually beneficial process influence the loan delinquency rate. More specifically, active participation of local bankers in NeighborWorks(1) loan committees, diverse funding sources (from both the public and private sectors), and a diffusion of business practices through dense social networks are related to NeighborWorks' loan servicing and collection policy and procedures. These factors in turn influence NeighborWorks' rehabilitation loan delinquency rates.

Baldwin, T. T., M. D. Bedell, et al. (1997). "The social fabric of a team-based MBA Program: Network effects on student satisfaction and performance." Academy of Management Journal 40(6): 1369-1397.

                The present study was an empirical analysis designed to measure the social networks of master of business administration (M.B.A.) students and the networks' relationships to attitudinal and performance outcomes. Results from 250 students indicated that centrality in friendship, communication, and adversarial networks affected both student attitudes and grades. Moreover, an analysis of 62 assigned teams showed that relationships within and between teams also had significant effects on student perceptions of team effectiveness and objective team performance. Implications for student networks and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Barley, S. R. (1990). "The alignment of technology and structure through roles and networks." Administrative Science Quarterly 35(1): 61-103.

                A role-based approach is outlined for conceptualizing and investigating the contention in previous research that technologies change organizational and occupational structures by transforming patterns of action and interaction. Building on Nadel's (1957) theory of social structure,  it is argued that the microsocial dynamics that result from new technologies reverberate up levels of analysis in an orderly manner. In particular, a technology's material attributes are said to have an immediate impact on the nonrelational elements of one or more work roles. In turn, these changes influence the role's relational elements, which eventually affect the structure of an organization's social networks. Consequently, roles and social networks are held to mediate a technology's structural effects. The theory is illustrated by ethnographic and sociometric data drawn from a comparative field study of the use of traditional and computerized imaging devices in 2 radiology departments.

Barnett, G. A. and R. E. Rice (1985). "Longitudinal Non-Euclidean Networks - Applying Galileo." Social Networks 7(4): 287-322.

Birkinshaw, J., R. Nobel, et al. (2002). "Knowledge as a contingency variable: Do the characteristics of knowledge predict organization structure?" Organization Science 13(3): 274-289.

                This paper examines the validity of knowledge as a contingency variable. Building on recent advances in thinking about the dimensions of knowledge assets (Winter 1987. Zander and Kogut 1995). we argue that such dimensions might have an Important influence on organization structure. More specifically, we focus on two dimensions of knowledge-observability and system embeddedness-and their influence over the level of unit autonomy and interunit integration in an international network of R&D units. Statistical analysis of questionnaire responses from 110 R&D unit managers show strong association between the dimensions of knowledge and organization structure. It also indicates partial support for the "fit" hypothesis in contingency theory. The paper makes two important contributions to the knowledge management literature. First. we find support for the contingency logic. suggesting that effective organization design has to take into account the underlying characteristics of the firm's knowledge base. Second, we shed light on a relatively neglected dimension of knowledge that we call system embeddedness. This is the extent to which knowledge is a function of the social and physical system in which it exists. In the statistical analysis it emerges as a strong predictor of organization structure. Moreover, it also appears to be conceptually distinct from the tacit-articulate dimension that is normally emphasized, This allows us to speculate on four generic forms that a firm's knowledge might take. that we label integrated. isolated. opaque. and transparent. These are discussed using example,, from the data.

Blackler, F., N. Crump, et al. (2000). "Organizing processes in complex activity networks." Organization 7(2): 277-300.

                This paper analyses practice as activity and develops a framework for analysing organizations as networks of activity systems. The approach is applied in a study of a high technology company. Key tensions in the organization are outlined and a comparative study of three strategy development teams is described. Activity theory provides the means to analyse organizations as distributed, decentred and emergent knowledge systems. It is suggested that the processes of 'perspective making', 'perspective taking' and 'perspective shaping' are central to the integration of different expert groups that need to co-operate in the pursuit of multiple, perhaps competing, objectives.

Borgatti, S. P., M. G. Everett, et al. (2002). Ucinet for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Harvard, Analytic Technologies.

Boulay, M. and T. W. Valente (1999). "The relationship of social affiliation and interpersonal discussion to family planning knowledge, attitudes and practice." International Family Planning Perspectives 25(3): 112-+.

                Context: Past research has demonstrated an association between membership in a social club and the adoption of family planning, yet little is known about the how these groups promote the diffusion of such behavior. Methods: Data on 2,217 women aged 15-49 and 2,152 men aged 15-54 from the 1994 Kenya Situation Survey are used to examine the role of communication within individuals' social networks in mediating the association between club membership and awareness, approval and use of family planning. Results: In analyses accounting for demographic factors, women club members were 2.3 times as likely as nonmembers to know about modern methods of family planning, and male club members were 1.5 times as likely as nonmembers to know about modern contraceptives and 1.7 times as likely as nonmembers to approve of family planning. Club membership was not directly associated with increased use of contraceptives, but among both men and women, participation in a club was associated with significantly greater odds of having family planning discussions with members of both core and extended social networks. Women who had discussed family planning with both core and extended network members were 8.3 times as likely to be currently using modern contraceptives, and men who had done so were 3.2 times as likely as were those who had limited such discussions to their core network only: Conclusions: By promoting informal discussions about family planning within a group with a diverse membership, social clubs play a mediating role in the diffusion of new information and innovative behaviors.

Brass, D. J. (1995). Creativity: It's all in your social network. Creative Actions in Organizations. C. M. Ford and D. A. Gioia. London, Sage: 94-99.

Brass, D. J., K. D. Butterfield, et al. (1998). "Relationships and unethical behavior: A social network perspective." Academy of Management Review 23(1): 14-31.

                Recent models of unethical behavior have begun to examine the combination of characteristics of individuals, issues, and organizations. We extend this examination by addressing a largely ignored perspective that focuses on the relationships among actors. Drawing on social network analysis, we generate propositions concerning types of relationships (strength, multiplexity, asymmetry, and status) and the structure of relationships (structural holes, centrality, and density). We also consider the combination of the type and structure of relationships and how this embeddedness perspective relates to social contagion and conspiracies.

Brown, D. (1998). Cybertrends: Chaos, Power & Accountability in the Information Age. London, Penguin.

                Review © Robyn Cook,1999

In Cybertrends, David Brown presents an alternative view to the technological utopia promoted by the leading digital prophets of our time. He argues that the digital revolution is based less on the inevitability of technological progress to improve living standards and promote an egalitarian global society; rather, he suggests, the technological revolution is driven by companies whose sole interest is to capture new commercial markets. Cyberspace, according to Brown, has become the new frontier, the "wired west" of the global economy, and those who capture the new markets reap momentous financial rewards. Citing Bill Gates, who promotes the "total participation" of users and markets as a key element of global networking systems, Brown suggests the digerati have in fact "confused their own vested interests with the technological destiny they promote." What we have at the end of the twentieth century is a new form of global imperialism based on silicon and code rather than geographic boundaries, driven by multinational "superpowers" increasingly less accountable to governments and whose sole aim is the increased profits that come with domination of global markets. Throughout history, individuals and nations who have controlled the latest technological tools have often played a decisive role in the acquisition of power and wealth. Brown acknowledges the emergence of Cyberspace has already led to momentous social change, and digital technology is already altering our methods of communication, our means of livelihood, our attitudes to consumerism and may ultimately impact on the future of democracy. Brown's major argument is that important social issues are being overshadowed by economic rationalism and global deregulation which, in contrast to the claims of the digerati, is, in reality, leading to a widening imbalance of wealth and opportunity. In a world where only 1 in 5 people have access to a basic telephone service, the small percentage of people connected to the Internet form a new subset of technological elite. Brown suggests that there should be less emphasis on technical gadgetry and the popular sales pitch of pundits, and more focus on who has control of the technology, who will arbitrate public debate, and who will decide standards. Important as these issues are, the problem with Brown's approach is the clumsy and confusing manner in which he approaches his argument. His jumpy and journalistic style is indicative of popular writing on technological trends, where a conversational tone is used to reach a mass audience, even at cost to the issues at stake. This book might have been more appropriately released in hypertext format, for on some pages there is more text related to footnotes that there is to the continuation of Brown's own argument. The use of analogy and personal anecdote is staggering both in its overuse and, at times, complete irrelevance. In one chapter alone we cycle through France, recall the Middle Ages, reminisce about the DC3, return again to the rural village in southern France with Miss B., and on to a small town in Italy to test drive a Lamborghini (a comparison between mechanical and computing power, get it?). All this to illustrate um...... oh yes, the emergence of the new elite, who are building their power and wealth on digital enterprises rather than the industrial or feudal models of old. The most troubling aspect of Cybertrends is that much of Brown's argument lacks balance. He frequently resorts to broad, sweeping oversimplifications of complex issues to substantiate a point, and in doing so loses much of the power his argument. Emphasising the danger inherent in a society driven by computational machines Brown states that "it took the explosions of two world wars finally to resolve disjunctions set in train by the industrial age." Despite colonialism, politics, and a host of other equally complex attributing factors which led to the outbreak of the each world war, recent events in the last decade suggest these "disjunctions" are in no way resolved. The other drawback with Brown's writing is an excessive use of emotive language. We are left with no doubt who the villains are, and whilst I enjoyed many of his swipes at the more outlandish claims of Negroponte, Gates and their ilk, (together with a fair amount of multinational bashing), Brown's clear personal bias in many ways undermines the importance of his argument. To Brown's credit, his aim is, at all times, to place technological development within a humanistic context, to shift the debate away from globalisation and the economic might of the market place towards issues of social value. For this alone his argument is both important and worth consideration. I just wish he had been more succinct and a little less obvious. As a reader, I prefer to make up my own mind.

Brown, J. S. and P. Duguid (2001). "Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective." Organization Science 12(2): 198-213.

                While the recent focus on knowledge has undoubtedly benefited organizational studies, the literature still presents a sharply contrasting and even contradictory view of knowledge, which at times is described as "sticky'' and at other times "leaky." This paper is written on the premise that there is more: than a problem with metaphors at issue here, and more than accounts of different types of knowledge (such as ''tacit'' and ''explicit'') can readily explain. Rather, these contrary descriptions of knowledge reflect different, partial, and sometimes "balkanized" perspectives from which knowledge and organization are viewed. Taking the community of practice as a unifying unit of analysis for understanding knowledge in the firm, the paper suggests that often too much attention is paid to the idea of community, too little to the implications of practice. Practice, we suggest, creates epistemic differences among the communities within a firm, and the firm's advantage over the market lies in dynamically coordinating the knowledge produced by these communities despite such differences. In making this argument, we argue that analyses of systemic innovation should be extended to embrace all firms in a knowledge economy, not just the classically innovative. This extension will call for a transformation of conventional ideas coordination and of the trade-off between exploration and exploitation.

Brunn, S. D. and S. R. O'Lear (1999). "Research and communication in the "invisible college" of the Human Dimensions of Global Change." Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 9(4): 285-301.

                The human dimensions of global change research community includes scholars in the natural and social sciences working in universities and government laboratories who share common interests and who communicate with each other through journals, workshops, and conferences and via the Internet. Information and communication technologies, in particular, e-mail, listservs, and the WWW, where speed and low cost are key features, from the backbone of an "electronic invisible college". The results of a survey of scientists attending the Laxenburg conference in 1997 illustrates the transdisciplinary and international nature of HDGC research, the local and international scale of research, their commitment to public policy, and their increased use of the Internet for networking, data acquisition and analysis, and publication. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Burkhardt, M. E. and D. J. Brass (1990). "Changing Patterns or Patterns of Change - the Effects of a Change in Technology on Social Network Structure and Power." Administrative Science Quarterly 35(1): 104-127.

Burt, R. S. (1991). "Measuring Age as a Structural Concept." Social Networks 13(1): 1-34.

Burt, R. S. (1997). "The contingent value of social capital." Administrative Science Quarterly 42(2): 339-365.

                I present argument and evidence for a structural ecology of social capital that describes how the value of social capital to an individual is contingent on the number of people doing the same work. The information and control benefits of bridging the structural holes-or, disconnections between nonredundant contacts in a network-that constitute social capital are especially valuable to managers with few peers. Such managers do not have the guiding frame of reference for behavior provided by numerous competitors, and the work they do does not have the legitimacy provided by numerous people doing the same kind of work. I use network and performance data on a probability sample of senior managers to show how the value of social capital, high on average for the managers, varies as a power function of the number of people doing the same work.

Burt, R. S., R. M. Hogarth, et al. (2000). "The social capital of French and American managers." Organization Science 11(2): 123-147.

                Accumulating empirical evidence on American managers shows that social-capital effects on performance are a function of the information and control benefits of bridging structural holes- the disconnections between nonredundant contacts in a network. Is that network form of social capital unique to Americans? France seemed to us a productive site for comparative research because the image from past research is that French managers are more regulated than Americans; more regulated by bureaucratic authority and more regulated by peer pressure, with both amplified by the greater reliance in France on internal labor markets. People comfortable with knowing their place in a chain of bureaucratic control could be uncomfortable with the negotiated control exercised by network entrepreneurs, so the positive association between structural holes and performance in the United States could be negligible or even reversed for French managers. We use network and performance data on two study populations of senior managers, one in France and one in the United States, to describe social capital similarities and differences between the populations. The network form of social capital is similar in the two populations: More successful French managers, like Americans, tend to have networks rich in structural holes. The French and American managers make similar distinctions between kinds of relationships. Relations that bridge structural holes are similarly detached from routine work activities for the French and the Americans. The interesting difference is that social capital develops differently in the two populations. The French managers operate with a less porous social boundary around their firm and associate negative emotions with bridge relations. Reinforcing Aix-en-Provence observations on the significance of adult education for France-German differences in organization, we find that exposure to peers in other firms via executive education is for our French managers the only factor positively associated with the social capital of bridge relationships.

Butler, B. S. (2001). "Membership size, communication activity, and sustainability: A resource-based model of online social structures." Information Systems Research 12(4): 346-362.

                As telecommunication networks become more common, there is an increasing interest in the factors underlying the development of online social structures. It has been proposed that these structures are new forms of organizing which are not subject to the same constraints as traditional social structures. However, from anecdotal evidence and case studies it is difficult to evaluate whether online social structures are subject to the same problems as traditional social structures. Drawing from prior studies of traditional social structures and empirical analyses of longitudinal data from a sample of Internet-based groups, this exploratory work considers the role of size and communication activity in sustainable online social structures. A resource-based theory of sustainable social structures is presented. Members contribute time, energy, and other resources, enabling a social structure to provide benefits for individuals. These benefits, which include information, influence, and social support, are the basis for a social structure's ability to attract and retain members. This model focuses on the system of opposing forces that link membership size as a component of resource availability and communication activity as an aspect of benefit provision to the sustainability of an online social structure. Analyses of data from a random sample of e-mail-based Internet social structures (listservs) indicate that communication activity and size have both positive and negative effects on a structure's sustainability. These results suggest that while the use of networked communication technologies may alter the form of communication, balancing the opposing impacts of membership size and communication activity in order to maintain resource availability and provide benefits for current members remains a fundamental problem underlying the development of sustainable online social structures.

Carley, K. M. (1999). Learning within and among organizations. Advances in Strategic Management, Vol 16 - 1999. 16: 33-53.

                Change is readily seen both within organizations and within populations of organizations. Such change has been characterized as organization or population-level learning or evolution. Underlying such change is change at the individual human and social network level. Herein, it is asked, how does the way in which individuals learn and the way in which networks evolve reflect itself in organizational and population-level learning? What changes should emerge at the organization and population level due to learning, information diffusion, and network change at the individual level? Herein it is argued that organization and population-level phenomena, such as performance improvements, mis-learning, and shakeouts, emerge from the on-going processes of change at the individual level. Looking at learning and information diffusion enables the organizational theorist to link micro and macro level organizational phenomena.

Carley, K. M. (2003). Dynamic Network Analysis. Summary of the NRC workshop on Social Network Modeling and Analysis. R. Breiger and K. M. Carley, National Research Council.

Carlson, J. R. and R. W. Zmud (1999). "Channel expansion theory and the experiential nature of media richness perceptions." Academy of Management Journal 42(2): 153-170.

                Experiences identified by channel expansion theory as contributing to media-use knowledge bases were hypothesized to be positively related to the perceived richness of a communications channel. We investigated the hypotheses, using electronic mail as the channel, in both a cross-sectional and a multiwave study. Results varied for types of experience and generally supported channel expansion theory. Channel use, perceived social influence, and the dynamic nature of richness perceptions were also investigated. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Carneiro, A., A. Simoes, et al. (2000). "Enlightenment science in Portugal: The estrangeirados and their communication networks." Social Studies of Science 30(4): 591-619.

                This paper focuses on the role of the estrangeirados ('Europeanized' intellectuals) as significant diffusion channels for the new scientific and technological ideas and practices stemming from the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. A definition of 'network' is introduced in this paper as a methodological tool to characterize the estrangeirados. We argue that given their heterogeneous social origins, backgrounds and careers, they should not be seen as a homogeneous group. Rather, they were part of a fluid network, although they did not consider themselves as such. What they definitely shared was a common scientific culture. Analysis of the links they established on a voluntary and often informal basis accordingly enables us to identify the aims and strategies deployed to introduce the new sciences in 18th- century Portugal, and to understand better why their reforming endeavours had so little practical impact. In effect, the estrangeirados formed an elite which remained marginal to Portuguese society at large. In many instances their political options and their links to central power made them vulnerable to political and religious persecution. This considerably undermined their agenda, which aimed at bringing the country into the forefront of advanced European nations.

Carpenter, D. P., K. M. Esterling, et al. (1998). "The strength of weak ties in lobbying networks - Evidence from health-care politics in the United States." Journal of Theoretical Politics 10(4): 417-444.

                How does policy information flow through Washington 'issue networks'? And how does information how determine which lobbyists get access in policy-making? Drawing upon the 'strength of weak ties' argument, the authors argue that policy information passes more through acquaintances ('weak ties') than through close, trusted,contacts ('strong ties'). They support this argument in an analysis of data on lobbying networks in healthcare policy-making in the 1970s and 1980s. The statistical analyses show that access to policy-makers in Washington is network-autocorrelated: a lobbyist's access depends upon the access of other lobbyists sme knows. The results demonstrate the importance of weak ties as a restricted form of 'social capital' in policy-making.

Carpenter, M. A. and J. D. Westphal (2001). "The strategic context of external network ties: Examining the impact of director appointments on board involvement in strategic decision making." Academy of Management Journal 44(4): 639-660.

                This study examines how external network ties determine a board's ability to contribute to the strategic decision making process. Although the simple number of director appointments to other boards does not affect board monitoring or advice on strategy, appointments that can provide directors with relevant strategic knowledge and perspective do predict such involvement. In effect, the strategic context of social network ties, not simply the number of ties, is an important influence on corporate governance.

Carroll, G. R. and A. C. Teo (1996). "On the social networks of managers." Academy of Management Journal 39(2): 421-440.

                Using data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey, we compared the organizational membership networks and core discussion networks of managers and nonmanagers. For the two groups, the networks differed on a variety of characteristics, including ties to outside organizations and to co-workers, network size, and closeness of ties. We also found preliminary evidence that network differences were associated with income differences for nonmanagers.

Chang, H. J. and J. D. Johnson (2001). "Communication networks as predictors of organizational members' media choices." Western Journal of Communication 65(4): 349-369.

                This study relates Burt's social contagion theory to organizational members' perceptions of two models of media choice. The data (N = 83) were drawn from telephone mediated interpersonal communication within the Cancer Information Service (CIS), a government health information services agency that specializes in disseminating technical information. The results indicated, as hypothesized, that social contagion by structural equivalence was related to media richness. However, little support was found for a cohesion explanation of social information processing. These results have a number of implications for the development of new organizational forms, the role of multiplexity, and the competitiveness or complementariness of the theoretical perspectives examined here.

Chung, S., H. Singh, et al. (2000). "Complementarity, status similarity and social capital as drivers of alliance formation." Strategic Management Journal 21(1): 1-22.

                Using data on U.S. investment banking firms' syndication in underwriting corporate stock offerings during the 1980s, this study explores the factors that drive alliance formation between two specific firms. We compare resource complementarity, status similarity, and social capital as a basis of alliance formation. The findings indicate that the likelihood of investment banks' alliance formation is positively related to the complementarity of their capabilities, as well as their status similarity. Social capital arising from banks' direct and indirect collaborative experiences also plays a very important role in alliance formation. The number of deals given by a lead bank to a potential partner over the past three years has an inverted U- shaped relationship to the probability that the lead bank will invite the potential partner to form an alliance. Our findings indicate that status similarity and social capital have a stronger effect on alliance formation in initial public offering deals than in secondary offering deals, as the former are more uncertain than the latter. Using these findings, we discuss the role of complementarity, status similarity, and social capital in alliance formation.

Chwe, M. S. Y. (1999). "Structure and strategy in collective action." American Journal of Sociology 105(1): 128-156.

                This article considers both structural and strategic influences on collective action. Each person in a group wants to participate only if the total number taking part is at least her threshold; people use a network to communicate their thresholds. People are strategically rational in that they are completely rational and also take into account that others are completely rational. The model shows first that network position is much more important in influencing the revolt of people with low thresholds than people with high thresholds. Second, it shows that strong links are better for revolt; when thresholds are low, and weak links are better when thresholds are high. Finally, the model generalizes the threshold models of Schelling (1978) and Granovetter (1978) and shows that their findings that revolt is very sensitive to the thresholds of people "early" in the process depends heavily on the assumption that communication is never reciprocal.

Constant, D., L. Sproull, et al. (1996). "The kindness of strangers: The usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice." Organization Science 7(2): 119-135.

                People use weak ties-relationships with acquaintances or strangers-to seek help unavailable from friends or colleagues. Yet in the absence of personal relationships or the expectation of direct reciprocity, help from weak ties might not be forthcoming or could be of low quality. We examined the practice of distant employees (strangers) exchanging technical advice through a large organizational computer network. A survey of advice seekers and those who replied was conducted to test hypotheses about the viability and usefulness of such electronic weak tie exchanges. Theories of organizational motivation suggest that positive regard for the larger organization can substitute for direct incentives or personal relationships in motivating people to help others. Theories of weak ties suggest that the usefulness of this help may depend on the number of ties, the diversity of ties, or the resources of help providers. We hypothesized that, in an organizational context, the firm-specific resources and organizational motivation of people who provide advice will predict the usefulness of advice. We investigated these theories in a study of employees of a global computer manufacturer. We collected survey and observational data on the relationships between information seekers and information providers; the number, diversity, resources, and motivations of information providers, and subjective ratings of the usefulness of the advice (from both parties in the exchange) and whether or not the advice solved information seekers' problems. We found that information providers gave useful advice and solved the problems of information seekers, despite their lack of a personal connection with the seekers. The data support the main hypotheses and provide some support for resource and diversity explanations of weak tie influence. We discuss how this organization's culture sustained useful information exchange through weak ties.

Contractor, N. and A. P. Bishop (2000). Reconfiguring community networks: The case of PrairieKNOW. Digital Cities. 1765: 151-164.

                The advent of the Web has renewed interest in the use of information and communication technologies to support not only virtual communities but also traditional communities. This paper observes that the majority of successful applications to date tend to use technologies to substitute for and/or enlarge existing community interactions and transactions. We argue that this trend, unfortunately, deepens the digital divide between those who have social and knowledge capital and those who don't. In order to improve the conditions of low-income residents, there is a need to deploy tools that help to reconfigure rather than simply substitute or enlarge existing community interactions. This paper describes the methodology of asset mapping and the development and deployment of a tool called PrairieKNOW (Prairie Knowledge Networks On the Web) in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois' Prairienet community network. While Champaign-Urbana was ranked by Newsweek magazine as one of the ten: most wired cities in the world, it also has a substantial low-income population that has traditionally been under- represented in their use of Prairienet.

Cooke, P. and D. Wills (1999). "Small firms, social capital and the enhancement of business performance through innovation programmes." Small Business Economics 13(3): 219-234.

                The paper explores the extent to which social capital is advantageous to small and medium enterprise (SME) growth. Social capital is a communal property involving civic engagement, associational membership, high trust, reliability and reciprocity in social networks. It is capable of being identified in social, political and economic contexts, often associated with strong communities. However, not all strong communities exert the effects of social capital in respect of business activities. This paper assesses government programmes to promote collaboration amongst SMEs for improving innovation capacity by increasing social capital through networking. It shows that, for a sizeable proportion of programme-funded firms in Denmark, Ireland and Wales (U.K.) social capital building was associated with enhanced business, knowledge and innovation performance. Of particular importance was the opportunity afforded to firms for linkage with external innovation networks, and the build-up of embeddedness, or the institutional basis for the enhancement of social capital. As a consequence of discovering the advantages of social capital, over a third of respondents planned to continue to develop it in future, in many cases funding such activities privately rather than calling on the public purse.

Cross, R., A. Parker, et al. (2001). "Knowing what we know: Supporting knowledge creation and sharing in social networks." Organizational Dynamics 30(2): 100-120.

                Despite the ubiquity and increasing ease of access to vast stores of data, people still rely heavily on other people for information and problem solving. Executives must pay more attention to the sets of relationships that people rely on for these purposes. This article reports results from a research program designed to help managers probe knowledge creation, sharing and learning in strategically important networks of employees.

Cummings, J. N. (2001). Work Groups and Knowledge Sharing in a Global Organization, Carnegie Mellon University.

                Groups incur a number of internal costs when members work in different geographic locations and represent different functional areas. For example, it can be difficult for distributed group members to develop a common understanding of the task, or for cross-functional group members to reconcile dissimilar points of view. Relatively little scholarly attention, however, has been given to the external benefits that distributed or cross-functional group members have available to them. These include access to diverse sources of knowledge, such as customers in a variety of locations or non-group employees from different functions. Past studies have shown a positive relationship between external knowledge sharing and work group performance. This thesis extends previous research by examining whether distributed or cross-functional groups benefit from external knowledge sharing more than co-located or functionally homogeneous groups. I surveyed 182 work groups in a Fortune 500 corporation to assess how often members shared general overviews, specific requirements, analytical techniques, progress reports, and project results within and outside of the group. Members were located around the world, they represented numerous functional areas, and they worked on tasks ranging from product development to manufacturing operations. Senior managers in the company rated each work group on their performance. I hypothesized and found that both internal and external knowledge sharing were positively related to group performance. Building on social network theory, I also hypothesized and found that as geographic distribution and cross-functionality increased, the relationship between external knowledge sharing and group performance became even stronger. These results suggest that external networks can provide distributed or cross-functional group members with access to unique task information, know-how, and feedback.

Cummings, J. N. (in press). "Works groups, structural diversity, and knowledge sharing in a global organization." Management Science.

                Work groups in organizations must exchange information, know-how, and feedback among members and with the outside to be effective. Moreover, external knowledge sharing is likely to increase in importance as organizations create work groups with diverse structures – members who are dispersed across different geographic locations, who represent different functional assignments, who report to different managers, or who reside in different business units. Building on social network theory, this paper argues that variation in features of group structure, termed structural diversity, can increase the value of external knowledge sharing by exposing members to unique sources of knowledge. Using corporate database records, group member surveys, and senior executive’s ratings of performance, a field study of 182 work groups in a global organization reveals that external knowledge sharing is more strongly associated with performance when groups have greater structural diversity. In contrast, groups with greater demographic diversity, such as member differences in sex, age, and tenure, do not reap the same performance benefits from external knowledge sharing.

Cummings, J. N. and R. Cross (2003). "Structural properties of work groups and their consequences for performance." Social Networks 25(3): 197-281.

                Over the past several decades, social network research has favored either ego-centric (e.g. employee) or bounded networks (e.g. organization) as the primary unit of analysis. This paper revitalizes a focus on the work group, which includes structural properties of both its individual membersand the collection as a whole. In a study of 182 work groups in a global organization, we found that structural holes of leaders within groups as well as core-periphery and hierarchical group structures were negatively associated with performance.We show that these effects hold even after controlling for mean levels of group communication, and discuss implications for the future of network analysis in work groups and informal organizations.

Daveni, R. A. and I. F. Kesner (1993). "Top Managerial Prestige, Power and Tender Offer Response - a Study of Elite Social Networks and Target Firm Cooperation During Takeovers." Organization Science 4(2): 123-151.

                In this paper we explore the following research question: When faced with a tender offer, why do some firms resist and others cooperate? In the past, researchers have suggested that the manner in which firms respond to takeover attempts may be, in part, a function of managers' personal motivations. We contribute to this line of research by questioning whether other factors might be involved. Specifically, we examine whether cooperation may be a function of the friendliness of the bidding company and the social networks shared by executives in the two firms (i.e., bidder and target). We examine how the power and connections of managers affect their responses to tender offers. Our results suggest that these factors do indeed play a role. We found, for example, that target managers are more likely to cooperate under two conditions: (1) if they have less prestigious connections than managers in the bidding firm, and (2) if the target and bidding firms' share numerous ties to the same prestigious networks. In contrast, we found that target managers are more likely to resist a bidder's advances if: (1) the managers in both firms are poorly connected, or (2) the targets' managers hold more prestigious connections relative to the bidders. Together these findings suggest that cooperation and resistance may be a function of the social networks and power relationships that exist between and within firms. We discuss our findings within the framework of numerous organizational theories such as social class and social network theory, agency theory, and resource dependence. Although each of these perspectives suggests somewhat different results, we propose a reconciliation of these various perspectives. Specifically, we suggest that the variables of managerial power and connections may have different effects depending on whether we are observing firms before or after tender offers are made. It may be, for instance, that before a takeover offer is received, the power and prestige of target managers is associated with adoption of anti-takeover defenses (i.e., defenses designed to thwart takeover attempts). In fact, this finding has already been well documented in the literature. On the other hand, our findings suggest that after an offer is received, these same factors of prestige and power appear to be associated with resistance. Finally, our results call into question previous views that corporate takeovers are a mechanism for disciplining or ridding the company of incompetent managers. Instead, our findings suggest that the nature of the takeover process (i.e., cooperative versus resistant) may do little more than perpetuate existing social structures. Powerful and prestigious managers may not suffer the same negative effects of takeovers as their less prestigious and less powerful counterparts.

Davis, G. F. (1991). "Agents without Principles - the Spread of the Poison Pill through the Intercorporate Network." Administrative Science Quarterly 36(4): 583-613.

                This study compares the agency theory of the firm with interorganizational theory in examining the factors associated with the adoption of the poison pill-a takeover defense issued by a firm's board of directors that can dramatically increase the cost that a hostile buyer would have to pay to acquire the firm-by a panel of Fortune 500 firms between July 1984 and August 1989. The pill's rapid spread is traced to a combination of ownership structure and other firm-level factors and an interlock network diffusion process. The results support a social structural perspective on the market for corporate control in which the interlock network provides a social context favoring continued managerial dominance. The findings are also more consistent with models of cohesion rather than structural equivalence as the social structural mechanism responsible for diffusion.

Davis, G. F. and H. R. Greve (1997). "Corporate elite networks and governance changes in the 1980s." American Journal of Sociology 103(1): 1-37.

                Changes in corporate governance practices can be analyzed by linking the adaptations of individual firms to the structures of the networks in which firms' decision makers are embedded. Network structures determine the speed of adaptation and ultimate patterns of prevalence of governance practices by exposing a firm to particular role models and standards of appropriateness. The authors compare the spreads of two governance innovations adopted in response to the 1980s takeover wave: poison pills (which spread rapidly through a board-to-board diffusion process) and golden parachutes (which spread slowly through geographic proximity). The study closes with a discussion of networks as links between individual adaptation and collective structures.

Davis, G. F. and M. S. Mizruchi (1999). "The money center cannot hold: Commercial banks in the US system of corporate governance." Administrative Science Quarterly 44(2): 215-239.

                This paper examines how the place of banks in the intercorporate network has changed as a result of their decreasing role as financial intermediaries in the U.S. economy. An analysis of comprehensive data on the boards of the fifty largest banks and their connections with the several hundred largest nonbank corporations from 1982 to 1994 shows that the centrality of banks has significantly declined as executives of major corporations, particularly those representing central firms, joined bank boards at a substantially lower rate. Declining centrality reflects a strategic choice on the part of the banks: as the returns available from lending to major corporations have declined, the largest banks have moved into other forms of business and reduced their recruiting of centrally located directors. We conclude with a discussion of the role of financial intermediation in shaping the social organization of the economy.

Degenne, A. and M. Forse (1999). Introducing Social Networks. London, Sage.

Dess, G. G. and J. D. Shaw (2001). "Voluntary turnover, social capital, and organizational performance." Academy of Management Review 26(3): 446-456.

                We propose a supplemental perspective, based on organizational social capital, for examining the voluntary turnover- organizational performance relationship. We view existing organizational-level theories as those focusing on cost or human capital issues or,rarely, on a balance among these factors. But rapid changes in the nature of work, organizational structures, and interorganizational competitiveness increase the importance of studying the role of social capital in the voluntary turnover-organizational performance relationship. We highlight areas of correspondence and divergence among the various perspectives, discuss implications for various performance measures, and outline several research directions.

DiMaggio, P. and H. Louch (1998). "Socially embedded consumer transactions: For what kinds of purchases do people most often use networks?" American Sociological Review 63(5): 619-637.

                Why and to what extent do people make significant purchases from people with whom they have prior noncommercial relationships? Using data from the economic sociology module of the 1996 General Social Survey, we document high levels of within-network exchanges. We argue that transacting with social contacts is effective because it embeds commercial exchanges in a web of obligations and holds the seller's network hostage to appropriate role performance in the economic transaction. It follows that within-network exchanges will be more common in risky transactions that are unlikely to be repeated and in which uncertainty is high. The data support this view. Self- reports about major purchases are consistent with the expectation that exchange frequency reduces the extent of within-network exchanges. Responses to questions about preferences for in-group exchanges support the argument that uncertainty about product and performance quality leads people to prefer sellers with whom they have noncommercial ties. Moreover, people prefer to avoid selling to social contacts under the same conditions that lead buyers to seek such transactions; and people who transact with friends and relatives report greater satisfaction with the results than do people who transact with strangers, especially for risk-laden exchanges.

Erickson, B. (1988). The relational basis of attitudes. Social Structures: A Network Approach. B. S. Wellman and S. D. Berkowitz. Cambridge, MA, Cambridge University Press.

Fernandez, R. M. (1991). "Structural Bases of Leadership in Intraorganizational Networks." Social Psychology Quarterly 54(1): 36-53.

Fiol, C. M., E. J. O'Connor, et al. (2001). "All for one and one for all? The development and transfer of power across organizational levels." Academy of Management Review 26(2): 224-242.

                Power in organizations is a fluid social construction subject to multiple interpretations. The extensive literature on power provides insights about the antecedents and consequences of power at the individual and group levels but does not provide a model. tracing the linkages between them and describing how power develops and is transferred between individuals and groups. In this article we describe some of the conditions necessary for power identities and reputations to develop and transfer effectively between individuals and groups in organizations.

Flache, A. (2002). "The rational weakness of strong ties: Failure of group solidarity in a highly cohesive group of rational agents." Journal of Mathematical Sociology 26(3): 189-216.

                Recent research (Flache, 1996; Flache and Macy, 1996) suggests a "weakness of strong ties." Cohesive social networks may undermine group solidarity, rather than sustain it. In the original analysis, simulations showed that adaptive actors learn cooperation in bilateral exchanges faster than cooperation in more complex group exchanges, favoring ties at the expense of the common good. This article uses game theory to demonstrate that cognitive simplicity is not a scope condition for the result. The game theoretical analysis identifies a new condition for the failure of group solidarity in a cohesive group. Task uncertainty may make rational cooperation increasingly inefficient in common good production. Accordingly, rational actors may increasingly sacrifice benefits from common good production in order to maintain social ties, as their dependence on peer approval rises.

Flap, H. and B. Volker (2001). "Goal specific social capital and job satisfaction - Effects of different types of networks on instrumental and social aspects of work." Social Networks 23(4): 297-320.

                This paper addresses the question "To what extent can job satisfaction be explained as the revenue of social capital?" By conceiving someone's social network as social capital we specify conditions under which social ties do lead to job satisfaction. We inquire into the idea of goal specificity of social capital, which implies that a network with a given structure and content will have different impacts on various aspects of job satisfaction. If the content of the ties and the structure of the network at the job engender material well- being or produce social approval, satisfaction with the corresponding job aspects increases. Data were collected in 1993 using written questionnaires in two Dutch governmental agencies, one with 32 and the other with 44 employees. These workers' networks were charted using nine name-generating questions. Social capital, it turns out, is not an all-purpose good but one that is goal specific, even within a single domain of life such as work. Three effects stand out: First, the structure of the network and the content of the ties do matter. Networks of strategic, work-related ties promote an employee's satisfaction with instrumental aspects of the job, like income, security, and career opportunities. Second, closed networks of identity-based solidarity ties improve an employee's satisfaction with social aspects of the job, like the general social climate at work and cooperation with management and colleagues. Third, a network with a bow-tie structure (i.e., where a focal actor is the link between two or more mutually exclusive cliques) generally has strong negative effects on satisfaction with the social side of the job; although a bow- tie type network of trusting ties does increase satisfaction with the social side. This implies that Krackhardt's hypothesis on the unpleasant feelings produced by bow-tie type networks has to be specified for the content of the ties that constitute such a network. The most important conclusion of our analysis is that goal specificity of social capital has implications for both structure and content of social networks. Achievement of a particular goal, such as satisfaction at work, requires not only networks of a certain structure or ties with a particular content, but specifically structured networks of ties with a particular content. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Fountain, J. E. (1998). "Social capital: its relationship to innovation in science and technology." Science and Public Policy 25(2): 103-116.

                This paper argues that social capital is a necessary, although not sufficient, enabler of effective public-private partnerships and of a new, more collaborative style of innovation policy, although its significance for science and technology policy, has yet to be assimilated by most policy-makers. The network structure of the biotechnology industry in the United Stated and the regional-based industrial system in Silicon Valley, California are used to show how social capital affects innovation in science and technology. Two US national policy programs - the Advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership - make evident the growing importance of network development. A set of recommendations is given, designed to enhance innovative capacity through the formation of social capital. The central arguments regarding social capital and its relationship to innovation transcend national boundaries, and many of the specific policy recommendations for western European and some East Asian industrial states.

Freeman, L. C. (1992). "The Sociological Concept of Group - an Empirical-Test of 2 Models." American Journal of Sociology 98(1): 152-166.

                Two models of the structural form of small, informal groups are compared. One, derived by Winship, requires that patterns of social affiliation be strictly transitive. The other, based on Granovetter's ideas about weak and strong ties, requires only a special limited form of transitivity. When these alternative models are tested with data on human interaction, it turns out that the Winship model does not fit the data but that the model developed from Granovetter's work does.

Friedkin, N. E. (1993). "Structural Bases of Interpersonal Influence in Groups - a Longitudinal Case-Study." American Sociological Review 58(6): 861-872.

                I examine the relationship between interpersonal power and influence during the resolution of an issue in an organization. Controlling for elementary bases of power (rewards, coerrion, authority, identification, and expertise), I investigate three bases of power that arise from the structure of social networks (cohesion, similarity, and centrality). An analysis of longitudinal data on actors' bases of social power, frequency of interpersonal communications, and interpersonal influences indicates that cohesion, similarity, and centrality have significant effects on issue-related influence net of the elementary power bases. The effects of the structural bases are mediated by the frequency of issue-related communication. The primary structural determinant of the frequency of issue- related communication is network cohesion.

Friedkin, N. E. (1999). "Choice shift and group polarization." American Sociological Review 64(6): 856-875.

                I extend the theoretical domain of sociology into an area of social psychology that heretofore has been the exclusive domain of psychologists. Specifically, I develop a social structural perspective on the choice shifts make within groups. During interpersonal discussions of issues, choice shifts occur when there is a difference between group members' mean final opinion and their mean initial opinion. Explanations of choice shifts have emphasized group-level conditions (e.g., a norm, a decision rule, a pool of persuasive arguments, a distribution of initial opinions). I argue that choice shifts are a ubiquitous product of the inequalities of interpersonal influence that emerge during discussions of issues. Hence, I bring choice shifts squarely into the domain of a structural social psychology that attends to the composition of networks of interpersonal influence and into broader sociological perspectives concerned with the formation of status structures.

Gargiulo, M. and M. Benassi (2000). "Trapped in your own net? Network cohesion structural holes, and the adaptation of social capital." Organization Science 11(2): 183-196.

                This paper explores the tension between two opposite views on how networks create social capital. Network closure (Coleman 1988) stresses the role of cohesive ties in fostering a normative environment that facilitates cooperation. Structural hole theory (Burt 1992) sees cohesive ties as a source of rigidity that hinders the coordination of complex organizational tasks. The two theories lead to opposite predictions on how the structure of an actor's network may affect his ability to adapt that network to a significant change in task environment. Using data from a newly created special unit within the Italian subsidiary of a multinational computer manufacturer, we show that managers with cohesive communication networks were less likely to adapt these networks to the change in coordination requirements prompted by their new assignments, which in turn jeopardized their role as facilitators of horizontal cooperation within a newly created business unit structure. We conclude with a discussion of the trade-off between the safety of cooperation within cohesive networks and the flexibility provided by networks rich in structural holes.

Geletkanycz, M. A., B. K. Boyd, et al. (2001). "The strategic value of CEO external directorate networks: Implications for CEO compensation." Strategic Management Journal 22(9): 889-898.

                This study examines the relationship between CEO external directorate networks and CEO compensation. Drawing on previous research showing a link between executives' external networks, firm strategy, and performance, the study argues that executive external networks are strategically valuable to firms; thus, they should be reflected in executive compensation. The study further examines whether firm diversification, with its elevated demand for strategic resources, moderates the relationship between CEO external directorate networks and pay. Hypotheses are tested using a sample of 460 Fortune 1000 firms. Analyses reveal that the rewards to CEO external directorate networks are contingent upon the firm's level of diversification. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Gersick, C. J. G., J. M. Bartunek, et al. (2000). "Learning from academia: The importance of relationships in professional life." Academy of Management Journal 43(6): 1026-1044.

                In-depth interviews with business school faculty members suggest that work relationships are more than strategically chosen means to career mobility. Relationships are career- defining ends as well, and negative relationships may be as consequential as helpful ties, Findings also showed significant gender differences: women, more than men, told stories about harm; men, more than women, told stories about help, Workplace relationships may play different roles for professionals and managers, and men's and women's different relational experiences may foster different career logics, or ways of striving for success.

Gould, R. V. (1993). "Trade Cohesion, Class Unity, and Urban Insurrection - Artisanal Activism in the Paris Commune." American Journal of Sociology 98(4): 721-754.

                Sociologists and historians generally agree that working-class protest in 19th-century France relied on the close-knit networks and corporate solidarity of artisanal trades. But urban uprisings invariably mobilized workers from a broad range of trades, a fact which some scholars have interpreted as evidence of growing class consciousness among French workers. This article shows that social organization within trade groups cannot account for insurgency in the Paris Commune: workers from close-knit occupational groups participated at lower rates than those in weakly organized trades. The reason was that Parisian workers were mobilized for insurgency through neighborhood networks, not through their membership in craft groups. The disappearance of trade boundaries during insurrections did not, therefore, reflect the emergence of class unity, but rather a shift from trade to neighborhood as the organizational framework for the mobilization of protest.

Gould, R. V. (1999). "Collective violence and group solidarity: Evidence from a feuding society." American Sociological Review 64(3): 356-380.

                Sociological explanations of group conflict usually presuppose that the various factors that breed hostility between collectivities also generate internal solidarity. Outside of the protest literature, studies of conflict therefore pay little attention to the collective-action problem facing groups in contention, and therefore overestimate the likelihood of group conflict: intergroup struggle is implicitly regarded as a sufficient condition for group participation in violent conflict. Examination of nineteenth-century court documents from Corsica, a society known for its tradition of collectivist feuding, shows that violent incidents typically did not involve groups. The group character of violence-in the form of collaborative use of lethal force and inclusion of disputants' kin-was conditional on collective contention having occurred before violence began. This and other empirical patterns support the view that collective violence occurs,then group action fails to convince an adversary to back down. The failure to prevent escalation calls the group's solidarity into question, compelling members to demonstrate that they are able to overcome their collective-action problem.

Grier, D. A. and M. Campbell (2000). "A social history of Bitnet and Listserv, 1985-1991." Ieee Annals of the History of Computing 22(2): 32-41.

                After the engineers built the computer networks, users had to build the social networks that made them useful. Listserv, the combined mailing list and file server, was an important tool for those interested in building network-based organizations. It first appeared on Bitnet, an academic network based on IBM computers. The early versions of Listserv became operational in the mid 1980s, and its early archives show how network users learned to use the software and, perhaps more importantly, how to manage network-based organizations.

Gulati, R. (1995). "Social structure and alliance formation patterns: A longitudinal analysis." Administrative Science Quarterly 40(4): 619-652.

                This study explores how social structure affects interfirm alliance formation patterns. It proposes that the social context emerging from prior alliances and considerations of strategic interdependence influence partnership decisions between firms. This social network facilitates new alliances by providing valuable information to firms about the specific capabilities and reliability of potential partners. The role of both direct ties between firms and their overall networks were examined with comprehensive longitudinal multi-industry data on the formation of interfirm strategic alliances between 1970 and 1989. Results are consistent with both strategic interdependence and social structural explanations of alliance formation. Support for the interaction of the two sets of factors also emerged. The implications of incorporating both sets of explanations for the formation of interorganizational ties are discussed.

Gulati, R. and M. Gargiulo (1999). "Where do interorganizational networks come from?" American Journal of Sociology 104(5): 1439-1493.

                Organizations enter alliances with each other to access critical resources, but they rely on information from the network of prior alliances to determine with whom to cooperate. These new alliances modify the existing network, prompting an endogenous dynamic between organizational action and network structure that drives the emergence of interorganizational networks. Testing these ideas on alliances formed in three industries over nine years, this research shows that the probability of a new alliance between specific organizations increases with their interdependence and also with their prior mutual alliances, common third parties, and joint centrality in the alliance network. The differentiation of the emerging network structure, however, mitigates the effect of interdependence and enhances the effect of joint centrality on new alliance formation.

Gulati, R. and J. D. Westphal (1999). "Cooperative or controlling? The effects of CEO-board relations and the content of interlocks on the formation of joint ventures." Administrative Science Quarterly 44(3): 473-506.

                This study examines the influence of the social network of board interlocks on strategic alliance formation. Our theoretical framework suggests how board interlock ties to other firms can increase or decrease the likelihood of alliance formation, depending on the content of relationships between CEOs (chief executive officers) and outside directors. Results suggest that CEO-board relationships characterized by independent board control reduce the likelihood of alliance formation by prompting distrust between corporate leaders, while CEO-board cooperation in strategic decision making appears to promote alliance formation by enhancing trust. The findings also show how the effects of direct interlock ties are amplified further by third-party network ties.

Hallinan, M. T. (1978). "Process of friendship formation." Social Networks 1(2): 193-210.

Hansen, M. T. (1999). "The search-transfer problem: The role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits." Administrative Science Quarterly 44(1): 82-111.

                This paper combines the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of complex knowledge to explain the role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits in a multiunit organization. I use a network study of 120 new-product development projects undertaken by 41 divisions in a large electronics company to examine the task of developing new products in the least amount of time. Findings show that weak interunit ties help a project team search for useful knowledge in other subunits but impede the transfer of complex knowledge, which tends to require a strong tie between the two parties to a transfer. Having weak interunit ties speeds up projects when knowledge is not complex but slows them down when the knowledge to be transferred is highly complex. I discuss the implications of these findings for research on social networks and product innovation.

Hansen, M. T. (2002). "Knowledge networks: Explaining effective knowledge sharing in multiunit companies." Organization Science 13(3): 232-248.

                This paper introduces the concept of knowledge networks to explain why some business units are able to benefit from knowledge residing in other parts of the company while others are not, The core premise of this concept is that a proper understanding of effective interunit knowledge sharing in a multiunit firm requires a joint consideration of relatedness in knowledge content among business units and the network of lateral interunit relations that enables task units to access related knowledge. Results from a study of 120 new product development projects in 41 business units of a large multiunit electronics company showed that project teams obtained more existing knowledge from other units and completed their projects faster to the extent that they had short interunit network paths to units that possessed related knowledge. In contrast. neither network connections nor extent of related knowledge alone explained the amount of knowledge obtained and project completion time. The results also showed a contingent effect of having direct interunit relations in knowledge networks: While established direct relations mitigated problems of transfer-ring noncodified knowledge, they were harmful when the knowledge to be transferred was codified, because they were less needed but still involved maintenance costs. These findings suggest that research on knowledge transfers and synergies in multiunit firms should pursue new perspectives that combine the concepts of network connections and relatedness in knowledge content.

Haunschild, P. R. and A. S. Miner (1997). "Modes of interorganizational imitation: The effects of outcome salience and uncertainty." Administrative Science Quarterly 42(3): 472-500.

                Drawing on neoinstitutional and learning theories, we distinguish three distinct modes of selective interorganizational imitation: frequency imitation (copying very common practices), trait imitation (copying practices of other organizations with certain features), and outcome imitation (imitation based on a practice's apparent impact on others). We investigate whether these imitation modes occur independently and are affected by outcome salience and contextual uncertainty in the context of an important decision: which investment banker to use as adviser on an acquisition, Results of testing hypotheses on 539 acquisitions that occurred in 1988-1993 show that all three imitation modes occur independently, but only highly salient outcomes sustain outcome imitation, Uncertainty enhances frequency imitation, but only some trait and outcome imitation. The results highlight the possible joint operation of social and technical indicators in imitation, illuminate factors that moderate vicarious learning processes, and show asymmetries between learning from success and failure.

Hedstrom, P., R. Sandell, et al. (2000). "Mesolevel networks and the diffusion of social movements: The case of the Swedish Social Democratic Party." American Journal of Sociology 106(1): 145-172.

                In analyzing the spatial diffusion of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, this article introduces the notion of a mesolevel network. A mesolevel network is a social network that differs in three important respects from interpersonal microlevel networks directly linking prior and potential adopters of a practice to one another: (1) it is generated by a different causal process than the microlevel network; (2) it tends to be much sparser than the microlevel network; and (3) the typical edge of a mesolevel network bridges much longer sociometric and geographic distances than the typical edge of a microlevel network. These types of mesolevel networks are important because they can dramatically influence the speed at which a contagious practice will diffuse. The mesolevel network focused upon in this article is the network that emerged out of the travel routes of political agitators affiliated with the Social Democratic Party. Computational modeling shows that the diffusion of the Social Democratic Party is likely to have been considerably influenced by the structure of this network. Empirical analyses of the founding of party organizations during the period 1894-1911 support these theoretical predictions and suggest that this mesolevel network was of considerable importance for the diffusion of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

Higgins, M. C. and K. E. Kram (2001). "Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A developmental network perspective." Academy of Management Review 26(2): 264-288.

                We introduce social networks theory and methods as a way of understanding mentoring in the current career context. We first introduce a typology of "developmental networks" using core concepts from social networks theory-network diversity and tie strength-to view mentoring as ct multiple relationship phenomenon. We then propose a framework illustrating factors that shape developmental network structures and offer propositions focusing on the developmental consequences for individuals having different types of developmental networks in their careers. We conclude with strategies both for testing our propositions and for researching multiple developmental relationships further.

Hinds, P. J., K. M. Carley, et al. (2000). "Choosing work group members: Balancing similarity, competence, and familiarity." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 81(2): 226-251.

                This study explores one of the contributors to group composition-the basis on which people choose others with whom they want to work. We use a combined model to explore individual attributes, relational attributes, and previous structural ties as determinants of work partner choice. Four years of data from participants in 33 small project groups were collected, some of which reflects individual participant characteristics and some of which is social network data measuring the previous relationship between two participants, Our results suggest that when selecting future group members people are biased toward others of the same race, others who have a reputation for being competent and hard working, and others with whom they have developed strong working relationships in the past. These results suggest that people strive for predictability when choosing future work group members. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

Hite, J. M. and W. S. Hesterly (2001). "The evolution of firm networks: From emergence to early growth of the firm." Strategic Management Journal 22(3): 275-286.

                This paper addresses whether cohesive networks of socially embedded ties or sparse networks rich in structural holes are more conductive to the success of new firms. We propose that the networks of emerging firms evolve in order to adapt to the firm's changing resource needs and resource challenges. As firms emerge, their networks consist primarily of socially embedded ties drawn from dense, cohesive sets of connections. We label these networks identity based. As firms move into the early growth stage, their networks evolve reward more ties dosed on a calculation of economic costs and benefits. This shift from identity-based to more calculative networks is manifested in the evolution of the firm networks: (1) from primarily socially embedded lies to a balance of embedded and arm's-lengrh relations: (2) from networks that emphasize cohesion to those that exploit structural holes: and (3) from a more path-dependent to a more intentionally managed network. Thus. this paper suggests that both cohesive and sparse networks are conducive to firm performance when they are aligned with and address firms' evolving resource challenges.

Holland, P. W. and S. Leinhardt (1977). "Dynamic-Model for Social Networks." Journal of Mathematical Sociology 5(1): 5-20.

Hsu, J. Y. and A. Saxenian (2000). "The limits of guanxi capitalism: transnational collaboration between Taiwan and the USA." Environment and Planning A 32(11): 1991-2005.

                In this research we explore the relationship between high- technology regional development and ethnic networks in the connection between Silicon Valley, California and Hsinchu, Taiwan. We elaborate the argument that regional industrial structure and embedded social networks, rather than the multinational firm, should be the Focus in the study of transnational business. The complementary regional industrial structures allow economic and technological collaboration between these two regions while the social networks help coordinate these transnational (cross-regional) collaborations. However, we seek to distinguish this account from the dominant perceptions of the role of guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in overseas Chinese business networks (OCBN). In contrast with the arguments for OCBN, that guanxi provides resources for Chinese firms to coordinate and control transnational business, we argue that the skill and competence required for technological upgrading are not necessarily guaranteed within the ethnic network. Although ethnic networks facilitate transnational business and technology cross-fertilization, it seems go too far to argue the Silicon Valley-Hsinchu connection is another version of Chinese guanxi capitalism.

Huxham, C. and S. Vangen (2000). "Leadership in the shaping and implementation of collaboration agendas: How things happen in a (not quite) joined-up world." Academy of Management Journal 43(6): 1159-1175.

                This article contributes to the theory of collaboration in social settings and is based on data collected during action research interventions in a number of public and community interorganizational collaborations. We conceptualize leadership in collaborations as stemming from three leadership media- structures, processes, and participants-and argue that none of these is wholly within the control of the members of a collaboration. Leadership activities that participants undertake in order to move a collaborative agenda forward are described.

Ibarra, H. (1992). "Homophily and differential returns - sex differences in network structure and access in an advertising firm." Administrative Science Quarterly 37(3): 422-447.

                This paper argues that two network mechanisms operate to create and reinforce gender inequalities in the organizational distribution of power: sex differences in homophily (i.e., tendency to form same-sex network relationships) and in the ability to convert individual attributes and positional resources into network advantages. These arguments were tested in a network analytic study of men's and women's interaction patterns in an advertising firm. Men were more likely to form homophilous ties across multiple networks and to have stronger homophilous ties, while women evidenced a differentiated network pattern in which they obtained social support and friendship from women and instrumental access through network ties to men. Although centrality in organization-wide networks did not vary by sex once controls were instituted, relative to women, men appeared to reap greater network returns from similar individual and positional resources, as well as from homophilous relationships.

Ibarra, H. (1993). "Network centrality, power, and innovation involvement - determinants of technical and administrative roles." Academy of Management Journal 36(3): 471-501.

                The reported research investigated the relative impacts of individual attributes, formal position, and network centrality on the exercise of individual power, measured as involvement in technical and administrative innovations. Centrality was more important for administrative innovation roles, and rank and centrality were indistinguishable in their effects on technical innovation roles. Centrality also appeared to mediate the impact of individual attributes and formal position on administrative innovation roles to a greater extent than it mediated their impact on technical roles. Results suggest that an organization's informal structure may be more critical than its formal structure when the exercise of power requires extensive boundary spanning and that sources of power have both general and innovation-specific effects.

Ibarra, H. (1995). "Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial networks." Academy of Management Journal 38(3): 673-703.

                This study investigated the informal networks of white and minority managers. Minority managers had more racially heterogeneous and fewer intimate network relationships. Within the minority group, differences in advancement potential were associated with different network configurations: high- potential individuals balanced same- and cross-race contacts; others had networks dominated by ties to whites. High-potential minorities also had more contacts outside their groups, fewer high-status ties, and less overlap between their social and instrumental circles. Relative to whites, minority managers viewed similar network characteristics as providing less access to career benefits.

Ibarra, H. and S. B. Andrews (1993). "Power, social influence, and sense making - effects of network centrality and proximity on employee perceptions." Administrative Science Quarterly 38(2): 277-303.

                This paper explores the hypothesis that network interaction patterns affect employee perceptions through two conceptually and empirically distinguishable mechanisms: localized social influence based on network proximity and systemic power based on network centrality. The study explores the relative contributions of individual attributes, formal organizational positions, network centrality, and network proximity in explaining individual variation in perceptions of work-related conditions in an advertising firm. Results suggest that network factors shape job-related perceptions, over and above the effects of individual attributes and formal positions. Both advice network centrality and friendship network proximity evidenced significant effects, although they were stronger for centrality than for proximity.

James, E. H. (2000). "Race-related differences in promotions and support: Underlying effects of human and social capital." Organization Science 11(5): 493-508.

                This study examined two alternative explanations for disparity in reported work-related experiences and outcomes between black and white managers: treatment discrimination because of race, and differences in human and social capital. Education and training, representing human capital, and racial similarity of network ties and proportion of strong ties, representing social capital, were used to predict whether human and social capital would mediate the relationship between race and the work- related experiences and outcomes under investigation. Results of a survey of black and white managers in a Fortune 500 financial services firm indicate that black managers reported a slower rate of promotion and less psychosocial support than white managers. Race had both a direct and an indirect effect on these outcomes. Participation in company training significantly predicted reported promotion rates, but race remained a significant predictor. Additional analysis revealed that race moderates the relationship between human capital and promotion rate and suggests a type of treatment discrimination against blacks. Contrary to predictions, social capital did not predict promotion rate, although social capital mediated the relationship between race and psychosocial support. Black managers reported having less social capital than whites, and social capital, in turn, was positively related to the receipt of psychosocial support. No differences were found between blacks and whites in their receipt of career-related support.

Jones, C., W. S. Hesterly, et al. (1997). "A general theory of network governance: Exchange conditions and social mechanisms." Academy of Management Review 22(4): 911-945.

                A phenomenon of the last 20 years hers been the rapid rise of the network form of governance. This governance form has received significant scholarly attention but, to date, no comprehensive theory for it has been advanced, and no sufficiently detailed and theoretically consistent definition hers appeared. Our objective in this article is to provide a theory that explains under what conditions network governance, rigorously defined, has comparative advantage and is therefore likely to emerge and thrive. Our theory integrates transaction cost economics and social network theories, and. in brood strokes, asserts that the network form of governance is a response to exchange conditions of asset specificity, demand uncertainty, task complexity, and frequency. These exchange conditions drive firms toward structurally embedding their transactions, which enables firms to use social mechanisms for coordinating and safeguarding exchanges. When all of these conditions are in pierce, the network governance form has advantages over both hierarchy and market solutions in simultaneously adapting, coordinating, and safeguarding exchanges.

Jones, C., W. S. Hesterly, et al. (1998). "Professional service constellations: How strategies and capabilities influence collaborative stability and change." Organization Science 9(3): 396-410.

                Constellations-alliances among multiple firms-are used to perform complex, customized work in professional service. We examine two tensions inherent in multi-party collaborative work: managing hybrid systems, which are composed of individual and group tasks and outcomes, and aligning partners' logics of action. These two tensions provide firms the strategic choice with emphasizing individual or collective advantage. When constellation members pursue an individualist strategy, they employ an entrepreneurial logic. Constellations are a vehicle for honing their firm-distinctive expertise and enhancing their own opportunities. Given these firms' need for exposure to new learning and new markets from different partners and clients, the stability of the constellation is not of primary importance. This strategy promotes membership shifts in constellations and requires governance mechanisms for coordinating interactions among relative strangers. When constellation members pursue a collectivist strategy, they focus on their mutual benefits and employ a relational logic. Given these firms' need for intensifying relations with partners and clients, constellation members restrict interactions to certain select partners and clients and intensify their interactions. This strategy promotes stability in constellation membership and allows governance mechanisms specific to partners to develop. Due to positive feedback, these strategies develop certain capabilities and create specific relational patterns, which reinforce prior choices.

Katz, N. and D. Lazer (2002). Designing effective teams: Team performance and information flows within and among teams. Cambridge.

                Our work integrates two largely independent areas of research: teams and networks.  Each of these research streams has produced important insights that can help managers get more out of their people and organizations.  Little scholarly work, though, has brought the team and network perspectives together.  Team experts have repeatedly called for research that bridges internal and external views of the team - that is, research that analyzes the internal dynamics among teammates, the team's links to outsiders, and the interplay between the team's internal and external relationships. We believe the network literature provides a useful - and underutilized - methodology for understanding a team's internal and external dynamics and their inter-relationship.  We draw upon network methodology to examine how prior ties within a team (internal social capital) and a team's links to the broader organizational structure (external social capital) influence team functioning, and, in turn, team performance.  Such integrative research is particularly timely in light of the fact that increasing numbers of organizations are using teams to accomplish mission-critical tasks, and many of those same organizations are adopting network rather than hierarchical structures.

Katz, N. and D. Lazer (2003). Building effective intra-organizational networks: The role of teams.

                The objective of this paper is to bring together the largely independent literatures of networks and teams. Our objective is twofold: (1) to understand what constitutes an effective organizational network when much of the work of the organization is done by teams; and (2) to examine what the internal and external social capital needs of teams are. We raise questions to guide future research, and point to potential managerial implications.

Keister, L. A. (2001). "Exchange structures in transition: Lending and trade relations in Chinese business groups." American Sociological Review 66(3): 336-360.

                The networks of interfirm relations that developed in business groups during economic transition are central to China's reform and are becoming an important part of the country's emergent economic structure. Using a recent and original data set that includes direct observations of economic choices made by firms, the process by which these interfirm lending and trade ties emerged and evolved in the early stages of reform is explored. Initially, information from sources external to the network dominated the formation and direction of exchange relations. Firms turned to their prior connections, look advantage of market position, and drew on bureaucratic power to develop alliances. Over time, internal influences gained importance, and managers increasingly drew on internal nontrade relations and other indicators inside the business group to identify lending and trade partners. The results demonstrate the central but changing role that social relations and environmental cues played in the creation of economic structure during China's transition. This study also contributes to an understanding of the processes of organizational adaptation to a major economic transition and interfirm alliance formation more generally. The findings reveal that firms select exchange partners of known reputation and solicit relations that reduce uncertainty, even when there is a cost involved.

Kettinger, W. J. and V. Grover (1997). "The use of computer-mediated communication in an interorganizational context." Decision Sciences 28(3): 513-555.

                The rapid growth of global telecommunication networks, and in particular the Internet, has placed emphasis on electronic mail's potential as an interorganizational communication medium allowing people from different organizations to communicate, gather information, form teams, and pass knowledge across time and place. An important area of research is to understand those factors affecting interorganizational computer-mediated communication usage decisions. This study examines how interorganizational electronic mail (email) systems are being used and what factors relate to this use. This was accomplished by electronically surveying a randomly selected sample of interorganizational email users. The 613 Internet-based respondents were located in 20 different countries and were from education, business, and government This research examines the characteristics of interorganizational email users, their perceptions of task and channel attributes, and the relationship between these characteristics and interorganizational email use. Three empirically derived patterns of interorganizational email use emerged that showed it was regularly used for broadcast task, and social communication. Broadcast usage, which reflects an information gathering communication function, most likely through public bulletin boards, electronic discussion groups, and list servers, was the most frequent use of interorganizational email, Multivariate regression tests showed that the three different usage types were best predicted from different sets of independent variables. Results support past claims that there is a need to differentiate among types of use in explaining computer-mediated communication usage behavior, Implications and recommendations for both researchers and practitioners are drawn from the results.

Kilduff, M. and D. Krackhardt (1994). "Bringing the Individual Back in - a Structural-Analysis of the Internal Market for Reputation in Organizations." Academy of Management Journal 37(1): 87-108.