Social Network and Organizational Power Distance: A Mixed Method Research on Academic Staff

Abstract

In the study, which was carried out to compare the perception of organizational power distance of the academic staff working at the university with the social networks they established with their colleagues at the university, the quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis processes were carried out simultaneously using the Convergent Parallel Design, one of the mixed methods research designs, and the results of the data analysis were integrated. This research compares the organizational power distance perceptions of the faculty members working at A University, a public university in Turkey, with the social networks they have established with their colleagues at the university. In the quantitative dimension of the research carried out with the mixed method, the research population consists of 1848 academic staff working at A University, one of the public universities in Turkey, in the 2020-2021 academic year. The research sample consists of 319 academic staff. 385 academic staff from 30 academic units, 14 faculties, and 16 colleges/vocational schools, were included in the research. In the qualitative dimension of the research, 27 of 34 academic staff working in the C Department of the B Faculty of the A University were included in the study group. Convergent Parallel Design was used in the research; within this context, the quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis processes were carried out simultaneously and the data analysis results were integrated. The quantitative data were analyzed with the SPSS 21 program, the participants' views on organizational power distance were analyzed with the MAXQDA 2022 program, and social network analysis data were analyzed with the UCINET 6.0 program. According to the research findings' conclusion, the academic staff's general social network tendencies in the quantitative dimension were high, and the participants had the highest perception of "liking to connect." It was determined that the academic staff's general organizational power distance perceptions were at a moderate level, and the participants had the highest perception of "acquiescence of power." Another conclusion was that the social network tendencies of academic staff did not differ according to the academic title variable. However, the organizational power distance differed significantly in favor of research assistants. It was revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the general social network tendencies of the academic staff and their perception of organizational power distance. In the qualitative dimension of the study, it was observed that the participants expressed their opinions on organizational power distance mostly in terms of accepting power and least in terms of consenting to power. Social network analysis revealed that the professional network had a denser structure than the friendship network, but the friendship network had more structured and stronger ties. In social networks, professors and research assistants were found to be at the center of the network. The study observed that the results of quantitative and qualitative data analysis confirmed each other at many points. This study is expected to contribute to the literature, policymakers in higher education management, university senior management, academics, and researchers.