The Microfoundations of Organizational Social Networks

Abstract

This paper focuses on an emergent debate about the microfoundations of organizational social networks. We consider three theoretical positions: an individual agency perspective suggesting that people, through their individual characteristics and cognitions, shape networks; a network patterning perspective suggesting that networks, through their structural configuration, form people; and a coevolution perspective suggesting that people, in their idiosyncrasies, and networks, in their differentiated structures, coevolve. We conclude that individual attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes cannot be fully understood without considering the structuring of organizational contexts in which people are embedded, and that social network structuring and change in organizations cannot be fully understood without considering the psychology of purposive individuals. To guide future research, we identify key questions from each of the three theoretical perspectives and, particularly, encourage more research on how individual actions and network structure coevolve in a dynamic process of reciprocal influence. Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the action editor Sucheta Nadkarni for her consistently helpful editorial guidance throughout the review process. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. The basic ideas and structure of the paper benefited from presentation at the Microfoundations of Social Networks Workshop, Copenhagen, June 2014.

Intergroup Conflict Management Strategies From a Nobel Peace Laureate: The Case of José Ramos-Horta

“…Nomothetic approaches using structural equation modelling techniques could be used to examine whether one's psycho-social skills and social network co-evolve, or whether one's skills lead to network growth. That is, while it seems reasonable to suggest that JRH psycho-social skills and social network co-evolved, further research in this area is needed to clarify whether "people make the network", "the network makes people", or "people and networks coevolve" (see Tasselli et al, 2015). Finally, our findings are in line with the notion that strategic leadership should be analysed through multiple, rather than single, theoretical lenses.…”

“…JRH understood the vital importance of "contacting, writing and responding to a variety of people" in order to manage inter-group conflicts. To this extent, scholars concur that strategic leaders must remain visible to both internal and external community constituents and political stakeholders within a given social network (Boal & Schultz, 2007;Crossan et al, 2008;Furrer et al, 2012;Meng, 2012;Sosik et al, 2005;Tasselli et al, 2015;Vera & Crossan, 2004). Without visibility, ones' ability to manage "inside-out"/exploration and "outside-in"/exploitation paradoxes diminishes considerably, particularly in complex adaptive systems such as high-stakes business and political negotiations (Boal & Schultz, 2007;Jansen et al, 2009;Lewis et al, 2013;O'Reilly & Tushman, 2011;Raisch & Birkinshaw, 2008).…”

Contingent factors affecting network learning

“…This relationship is dualistic, in that human action and social context are inseparable (Bhaskar, 2008;Giddens, 1984). Tasselli, Kilduff, and Menges (2015) maintain that on the one hand the personality and cognitions of individuals shape the network positions they occupy and the network patterns they utilize, and on the other hand that the embedding network situations and patterning influence an individual's psychological state. Far from disputing the classical sensemaking view that individuals draw upon prior knowledge in order to reduce complexity and assign meaning to new information, this approach extends our understanding to the situated nature of cognition and its relationship not only to internal mental processes but also to embodied concrete experience, allowing us to understand how human thinking facilitates social functioning (termed embodied cognition; O'Malley et al, 2009).…”

Empathy and well-being correlate with centrality in different social networks

“…Here, we test these predictions through an integrative combination of psychological and social network techniques (25)(26)(27). We focus on first-year college dormitories, in which communities emerge de novo.…”