Organizational Misfits and the Origins of Brokerage in Intrafirm Networks

Abstract

To extend research on the effects of networks for career outcomes, this paper examines how career processes shape network structure. I hypothesize that brokerage results from two distinct mechanisms: links with former coworkers and with friends of friends accumulated as careers unfold. Furthermore, I hypothesize that “organizational misfits”—people who followed career trajectories that are atypical in their organization—will have access to more valuable brokerage opportunities than those whose careers followed more conventional paths. I tested this hypothesis with career history data recorded longitudinally for 30,000 employees in a large information technology firm over six years and sequence-analyzed to measure individual-level fit with typical career paths in the organization. Network position was measured using a unique data set of over 250 million electronic mail messages. Empirical results support the hypotheses that diverse, and especially atypical, careers have an effect on brokerage through mechanisms rooted in social capital, even when accounting for endogeneity between networks and mobility. In theorizing about misfit from prototypical patterns, this paper offers a new, theory-driven application of sequence-analytic methods as well as a novel measure of brokerage based on interactions across observable boundaries, a complement to the structural constraint measure based on interactions across holes in social structure.