Integrated or Disconnected? Examining Formal and Informal Networks in a Merged Nonprofit Organization

Abstract

AbstractThis article introduces nonprofit researchers and practitioners to a social network analytical technique for assessing internal staff relationships after a merger. We studied a case of a nonprofit merger, investigating its formal and informal intraorganizational networks to see which parts integrated and which remained separate operationally. We discovered a prior‐organizational‐affiliation‐based homophily within the merged organization: most interpersonal relationships existing within these networks remained among the employees who worked together prior to the merger. However, the informal and expressive networks of mentoring, friendship, and socioemotional support were even more disconnected than the formal and instrumental networks of work relationships and problem solving. We highlight the role of a mentoring network in bridging formal and informal networks in a merged organization.