The Research Trend and Future Research on Status from the Perspective of Inter-organizational Network

Abstract

As a form of social evaluation, status defined as social standing or professional position has become popularized in the literature, especially in the field of sociology. Management scholars have paid more attention to the attributes of organizational status and provided empirical evidence to provide a more complete view of their influence. Based on this, we review the research trend on status published in top journals and highlight the current issues being tackled by this stream of enquiry. Focusing on the cross-over studies of network and status, this paper builds a literature analysis framework from the perspectives of partner selection, tie formation, network structure and network operation. By dividing the literature into these four parts, it is helpful to analyze the studies on status in the field of network. Based on this, the conceptual framework of network and status has been initiated. It consists of future research from the perspectives of dynamic, low-status, antecedents and status maintenance. Using this conceptual framework, we try to form causal relationships between status constructs and network issues. We provide some synthesis to highlight unsolved problems and research trends that have become prominent and require attention from management scholars. First, the vast majority of firms or individuals who do not have a high status should be paid more attention to. Future research should take low-status organizations as the research object such as underdog entrepreneurs and focus on how they form network relationships with high-status partners. Second, little is known about where status comes from, and how it is created. Future research should focus on the antecedents of status formation from the perspective of network, and whether there is instrumentality in seeking out high status. Third, since status ordering is not stable but can be subject to unexpected and sudden change, it is prospective to study how high-status actors perform after a status loss or a decline in status. It also links to the research of network governance that contributes to status maintenance. This study comprehensively presents the current research of status, which is of great theoretical contribution for clearly grasping the progress of status research from the perspective of network. The framework that is initiated in this paper contributes to future literature review and the cross-over study of network and status. The suggestions on future research provide guidance for status research in the field of network.