Influence Of Social Ties Research Articles

Social ties and related party transactions

This study examines the effect of social ties between the chief executive officer (CEO)/chief financial officer (CFO) and independent board members on related party transactions (RPTs). The presence of CEO/CFO-board social ties can weaken board oversight and result in propping or tunneling activities. However, firms can benefit from a socially connected board’s advice. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, the results show that CEO/CFO-board social ties are positively associated with abnormal RPTs. This positive association is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially locally owned SOEs. Further analyses indicate that firms with socially connected boards engage in RPTs that are detrimental to shareholders. Additionally, the primary results seem to be largely driven by CEOs’ connections. Chinese regulators impose strict regulations on RPTs, directing firms toward transparent transactions. The results of this study, however, indicate that regulatory frameworks should be revised to account for the influence of social ties to protect minority shareholders’ interests.

Hustle and influence: the dynamics of illicit small business and political connections

PurposeThis study aims to explore the political dimension of social network theory and assess how these connections motivate entrepreneurial activity and enhance postentry stages. The authors take an individualistic approach to the topic of institutional deterioration by uncovering the potential opportunities it can create, as entrepreneurship often arises when a market opportunity is perceived.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative approach, using a self-selection sampling method to target private entities that own electric generators (also known as “illicit SMEs”) who are providing electricity services to the community despite the deterioration of the public energy sector in Lebanon. Data was collected through a survey administered electronically to 230 illicit SMEs, using a judgmental sampling method to ensure representation from all Lebanese governorates. The collected data was analyzed using ordinal least squares regression models.FindingsThe findings indicate a significant relationship between institutional deterioration and the reinvestment rate of entrepreneurs, with the moderating effect of political connections suggesting that the impact of institutional deterioration is dependent on the strength of an entrepreneur’s political connections.Practical implicationsThe research findings demonstrate the significant influence of social ties and political connections on entrepreneurial activities, particularly in the context of SMEs that are providing services “illegally”. These results shed light on the importance of considering the role of social and political factors in the success and sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures operating in challenging environments.Originality/valueEntrepreneurial studies typically focus on free market platforms and supply-demand associations, assuming perfect government conditions. However, this study differs from previous research by highlighting the positive impact of social ties on entrepreneurial market access within a socially linked environment. The findings suggest the importance of considering social connections in entrepreneurial studies, particularly in challenging economic and political contexts.

Understanding networks in rural Cambodian farming communities and how they influence antibiotic use: A mixed methods study.

Biosecurity and preventive animal health services in Cambodian smallholder backyard farming systems are often limited, leading to an over-reliance on antibiotics. However, data on factors influencing antibiotic use in these settings are lacking. We conducted a study in two rural Cambodian farming communities to investigate how social and contextual influences affect both human and animal antibiotic use behaviours. Data were collected in three phases: a baseline household census to enumerate village residents, a social network survey to understand village-level social ties, and in-depth interviews to elicit information about the influence of social ties on their decision-making processes. Primary outcome measures included knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding antibiotic use, and awareness of issues relating to antibiotic resistance. Participants commonly accessed antibiotics or learned animal antibiotic use practices through village-level informal sources such as pharmacies or animal health workers. While most participants reported not using antibiotics for animal growth promotion or illness prevention, misconceptions surrounding both antibiotic effectiveness and resistance were common. Social networks capturing informal, work-related and health-related social ties showed that familial connections and geographic proximity were of primary importance for information sharing. Using exponential random graph models, we demonstrated that familial ties, and closer geographic and geodesic distance, were associated with similarity in overall antibiotic knowledge and attitudes. The informal private sector plays a major role in provision of antibiotics and antibiotic-related information in backyard farming communities, but such information is maintained within close social groups. This demonstrates the importance of engaging village-level informal sources in the provision of antibiotic-related information for both human and animal health, as well as in potential interventions to encourage appropriate antibiotic behaviours in lower-resourced settings.

The role of strong ties in empowering women entrepreneurs in collectivist contexts

PurposeThis study examines what social ties within collectivist settings mean for women's venturing and how these ties support women in gaining empowerment through their ventures.Design/methodology/approachThirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were conducted to examine the influence of social ties in their ventures.FindingsThe findings reveal that women in this context, contrary to most reported findings in the extant literature, both rely more on and find strong ties more conducive than weak ties in most of their entrepreneurial behaviours and activities. Results also show how the UAE's collectivist cultural norms shape social networks and inform individual decision-making, resource acquisition, well-being and self-efficacy as well as enhance women's empowerment through entrepreneurship. The women entrepreneurs were found to leverage their social ties for both power and action throughout their entrepreneurial journey consistent with their culture.Originality/valueA conceptual model, derived from the results of a qualitative study, illustrating the relationships between women entrepreneurs' use of social ties and the empowering capacities of venturing within a collectivist cultural context is developed. Based on these findings, the authors discuss the implications for policymakers and recommend avenues for future research, and research designs, on women entrepreneurs in collectivist contexts.

The Influence of Social Ties on Performance in Team-Based Online Games

Social ties are the invisible glue that keeps together human ecosystems. Despite the massive amount of research studying the role of social ties in communities (groups, teams, etc.) and society at large, little attention has been devoted to study their interplay with other human behavioral dynamics. Of particular interest is the influence that social ties have on human performance in collaborative team-based settings. Our research aims to elucidate the influence of social ties on individual and team performance dynamics. We will focus on a popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) collaborative team-based game, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2)</i> , a rich data set with millions of players and matches. Our research reveals that, when playing with their friends, individuals are systematically more active in the game as opposed to taking part in a team of strangers. However, we find that increased activity does not homogeneously lead to an improvement in players’ performance. Despite being beneficial to low-skill players, playing with friends negatively affects the performance of high-skill players. Our findings shed light on the mixed influence of social ties on performance and can inform new perspectives on virtual team management and behavioral incentives.

Exploring the influence of doctor–patient social ties and knowledge ties on patient selection

PurposeWith the advent of the Digital 2.0 era, online doctor–patient (D–P) interaction has become increasingly popular. However, due to the fact that doctors use their fragmented time to serve patients, online D–P interaction inevitably has some problems, such as the lack of pertinence in the reply content and doctors' relative unfamiliarity with their individual patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to excavate whether potential D–P social ties and D–P knowledge ties accentuate or attenuate the influence of patient selection (online and offline selection).Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the methods of text mining and empirical analysis on the structured and unstructured data of an online consultation platform in China to examine the research hypotheses.FindingsThe findings illustrate that the potential D–P social ties increase the influence on patient selection, as do the potential D–P knowledge ties. Specifically, the effect of social ties on patient selection is positively moderated by patient health literacy. Conversely, health literacy weakens the link between knowledge ties and patient selection. In addition, the doctor's title weakens the influence of social ties on patient selection, in contrast to knowledge ties (partially).Originality/valueThis study provides guidance for doctors and patients on how to communicate effectively and alleviate tension within D–P relationships. The study’s findings have both theoretical and practical implications for both doctors' and online platforms' decision-making.

Contextualisation of Social Networks and their Impact on HRM: The Indian Scenario

Our study attempts to bridge the gap in the management literature with respect to the impact of social networks on HRM systems in the Asian context. We specifically examine the formation and the influence of social ties in the Indian scenario. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, we have developed a conceptual framework which contextualises the fictive kinship ties from the sociocultural as well as the professional perspectives. The sociocultural perspective incorporates intrinsic features such as caste, regionalism, etc. and their extrinsic manifestations through cultural artefacts. The fictive kinship ties from professional perspective include educational and corporate alumni networks. The framework further illustrates the influence of these fictive kinship ties on various HRM processes and decision making within the organisation. The theoretical and practical implications of the framework have been discussed.

Newly Appointed CEOs and Strategic Change: The Impact of Social Ties

Demographic characteristics of newly appointed CEOs have been shown to influence the extent of strategic change they pursue, but our understanding of the role of social capital is more limited. In this study, we seek to provide insight into the role of social capital on executive decision making by examining the influence of social ties between the newly appointed CEO and the prior CEO. We find that in firms with newly appointed CEOs with social ties, there was significantly less strategic change than in firms with new CEOs without social ties. Further, we find that poor firm performance and CEO power result in more strategic change for new CEOs with no social ties but does not have a significant effect on new CEOs with social ties. Our study contributes to our knowledge on the role of social capital in influencing whether executive succession leads to strategic change.

Modeling the Influence of Online Social Media Information on Post-Disaster Mobility Decisions

Disaster risk management, including response and recovery, are essential elements of sustainable development. With the recent increase in natural hazards, the importance of techniques to understand, model and predict the evacuation and returning behavior of affected individuals is rising. Studies have found that influence from real world social ties affects mobility decisions during disasters. Despite the rapid spread of social media platforms, little has been quantitatively understood about the influence of social ties on online social media on such decisions. Information provided by who at what timing influences users’ decision-making process by how much during disasters? In this study, we answer these research questions by proposing a data-driven framework that can predict post-disaster mobility decisions and simultaneously unravel the influence of various information on online social media. More specifically, our method quantifies the influence of information provided by different types of social media accounts on the peoples’ decisions to return or stay displaced after evacuation. We tested our approach using real world data collected from more than 13 million unique Twitter users during Hurricane Sandy. Experiments verified that we can improve the predictive accuracy of return and displacement behavior, and also quantify the influence of online information. In contrast to popular beliefs, it was found that information posted by the crowd influenced the decisions more than information disseminated by official accounts. Improving our understanding of influence dynamics on online social media could provide policy makers with insights on how to disseminate information on social media more effectively for better disaster response and recovery, which may contribute towards building sustainable urban systems.

Communication, social norms, and contraceptive use among adolescent girls and young women in Lilongwe, Malawi

ABSTRACT In Malawi, 50% of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) have had a first child by age 19 and 45% report their pregnancies as unintended or mistimed. Yet, uptake of contraception remains low. Understanding how interactions with social ties impact AGYW contraceptive use might explain low uptake beyond individual and environmental factors. Data are from Girl-Power, a study among sexually active AGYW, aged 15–24, in Malawi. We used logistic regression models to examine whether contraceptive communication and social norms (descriptive and injunctive) were associated with contraceptive use (non-barrier methods and condoms) and how associations differed across social ties (older women in the family, peers, and partners). The sample included 942 participants: 28% reported using non-barrier methods and 66% reported using condoms. Contraceptive communication with older women in the family (aOR: 1.48, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.20), peers (aOR: 3.12, 95% CI: 1.96, 4.96), and partners (aOR 5.15, 95% CI: 3.13, 8.48) was associated with non-barrier method use. Descriptive norms were associated with non-barrier methods among peers (aOR 2.57, 95% CI: 1.63, 4.96) but not among older women in the family (aOR: 1.22, 95% CI 0.80, 1.88). There were no associations among contraceptive communication, social norms, and condom use across older women in the family, peers, and partners. The findings highlight the need to consider the influence of social ties in the design of future family planning interventions and suggest that interventions that encourage interpersonal communication about contraception and target peer-based descriptive norms have the potential to impact uptake of non-barrier methods.

How Social Ties Influence Customers’ Involvement and Online Purchase Intentions

A major challenge confronting online retailers is that of stimulating consumer online purchase intention. Many studies have explored the factors that affect consumer purchase behavior; however, few have described the underlying mechanism that links the online shopping experience to social ties and the effect of their strength on purchase intentions. This study adapted the stimuli–organism–response (S–O–R) model to analyze the effects of the online shopping experience on customer involvement and online purchase intention under conditions of weak and strong social ties. Two quasi-experiments were conducted to test the research model and hypotheses. The results showed that online shopping experience had a positive effect on customer involvement, and this involvement in turn had a positive effect on online purchase intention in the strong-tie group and the weak-tie group. Cognitive and affective involvement played partial mediating roles between the online shopping experience and online purchase intention in the weak-ties group and full mediating roles in the strong-ties group. The effects of online shopping experience on customer involvement and online purchase intention differed between the two tie strength groups. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Teams’ Structural Power Inequality on Firm Performance

In this research article, we investigate how structural power inequality within entrepreneurial teams influences firm performance. We argue that very high and very low levels of structural power inequality undermine cooperation and communication within the team and therefore inhibit the efficient deployment of entrepreneurial team members’ resources. We find evidence for an inverted U-shaped relationship between structural power inequality and firm performance. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of social ties and find that the inverted U-relationship becomes stronger in the presence of co-worker ties and weaker in the presence of family ties. These results provide important contributions for research on power in organizations and entrepreneurship.

Social Relationships and Adiposity in Older Adults: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Abstract Objectives Obesity prevention and management requires effective interventions that address broader social determinants, but current research on the role of social ties and central and general obesity is limited. This study aimed to determine the link of social ties and obesity using gender sensitive analysis. Methods We used baseline data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA, 2012–2015) Comprehensive cohort of 28,238 adults (45–85y). We assessed whether four types of social ties including marital status (partnered, single, widowed, divorced/separated); living arrangement (co-living versus lone-living); social network size (sum of known contacts, 1–580); and social participation (sum of social activities participated at least every month, 0–8) were associated with objectively measured anthropometric outcomes, and whether associations differed by gender. Results Overall, odds of both central and general obesity were higher among all non-partnered women and among women with less social activities (≤ 2), compared to counterparts. For example, women with minimal social activities had 46% higher odds of central obesity (OR = 1.46 [95% CI: 1.07, 1.99]) than women with at least five regular social activities. By contrast, lone-living and smaller social networks were associated with lower odds of general obesity among men; however, single men had an 18% higher odds of central obesity (1.18 [1.02, 1.37]) compared to married men. Gender differences revealed stronger associations for general obesity in women compared to central obesity, that was not observed in men. Conclusions This study suggests that absence of social ties is strongly associated with obesity in women, who may benefit most from structural interventions that foster greater social relationships. The influence of social ties on obesity among men deserves further prospective investigations. Funding Sources This research was made possible using data/biospecimens collected by CLSA. Funding for the CLSA is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) under grant reference: LSA 94,473 and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This research has been conducted using CLSA Baseline Comprehensive Dataset version 4.0, AN 19CA003. CLSA is led by Drs. Parminder Raina, Christina Wolfson and Susan Kirkland. The present research is funded by CIHR grant.

Immunized against science: Narrative community building among vaccine refusing/hesitant parents.

Recent outbreaks of measles have centered in specific communities, pointing to the influence of social ties on vaccination practices. This study adds to the conversation on public understanding of vaccine-related science, documenting how the individualist epistemologies highlighted in prior research are externalized and validated in communication with others, focusing on how the narrative strategies used to do so contribute to community building among vaccine refusing and hesitant parents. Through qualitative content analysis of testimonials given to the creators of the anti-vaccination documentary VaxXed, we identify how the common narrative strategies used to question the scientific consensus on vaccines-distrust of doctors, self-diagnosis, building credibility, advocacy, and community building-build a competing consensus based on personal expertise. With this approach, we are better able to understand how participation in online communities strengthens the privileging of individualist epistemologies among vaccine refusing and hesitant parents.

The Influence of Social Ties, Audit Tenure and Audit Fee towards Audit Quality

This research is a quantitative study which aims to obtain empirical evidence regarding the influence of the external auditor's social ties with the CEO / CFO, the external auditor's social ties with the audit committee, audit tenure, and audit fees on audit quality. The sample of this research is 166 manufacturing companies which are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the period 2017 to 2018. The data collection uses the purposive sampling. The data analysis technique used multiple regression statistical tests and T statistical tests. The results of this study indicate that the influence of the auditor's external social ties with the CEO / CFO on audit quality shows no significant effect (0.594> 0.1). The second hypothesis is that the effect of the auditor's external social ties with the audit committee shows no significant effect (0.946> 0.1). The third hypothesis, the effect of audit tenure on audit quality, shows no significant effect (0.217> 0.1). The fourth hypothesis, the effect of audit fees on audit quality, shows that there is no significant effect (0.331> 0.1). It can be that the external auditors have worked professionally and independently which, despite the existence of social and economic ties, it does not affect the assessment of an external auditor.

Opening the black box: how social interaction contributes to entrepreneurial intentions among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

Entrepreneurial intentions are widely recognised as a strong predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour. With regard to the minority of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, the recent literature has elaborated on the beneficial influence of social ties on entrepreneurial behaviour. The process of gathering and sharing information includes a variety of facets, including social ties. Derived from the theory of social capital and social identity theory, we expand the concept of social ties to a holistic view of social interaction. Accordingly, we define social interaction as a synergy of general social support, particularly from relatives, and general boundary-spanning. Respective insights are held within a black box - being scarcely highlighted. After applying a two-step methodology based on linear regression models, our results demonstrated that the concept of social interaction has a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Having opened the black box, social interaction among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals revealed a strong influence on entrepreneurial intentions, whereas social interaction with hearing individuals lacked significance levels.

Opening the black box: how social interaction contributes to entrepreneurial intentions among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

Entrepreneurial intentions are widely recognised as a strong predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour. With regard to the minority of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, the recent literature has elaborated on the beneficial influence of social ties on entrepreneurial behaviour. The process of gathering and sharing information includes a variety of facets, including social ties. Derived from the theory of social capital and social identity theory, we expand the concept of social ties to a holistic view of social interaction. Accordingly, we define social interaction as a synergy of general social support, particularly from relatives, and general boundary-spanning. Respective insights are held within a black box - being scarcely highlighted. After applying a two-step methodology based on linear regression models, our results demonstrated that the concept of social interaction has a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Having opened the black box, social interaction among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals revealed a strong influence on entrepreneurial intentions, whereas social interaction with hearing individuals lacked significance levels.

The Role of Psychological Proximity and Social Ties Influence in Promoting a Social Media Recycling Campaign

ABSTRACTAs environmental threats intensify rapidly across the globe, understanding how to promote public engagement in pro-environmental actions to address these threats is imperative. Contributing to the effort, we examined two influencers of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, psychological proximity and social ties influence, in the context of a recycling campaign through Facebook. We administered an online survey to a random sample of 434 U.S. Millennials. Results showed that psychological proximity (i.e. cognitive and emotional proximities) predicted positive attitudes toward recycling, intentions to like, share, and comment on posts of recycling-related social media campaigns, and to engage in recycling behaviors. The perceived influence of social ties (i.e. strong ties and weak ties) moderated the relationship between psychological proximity and attitudes toward recycling as well as offline recycling intentions. The results revealed that Millennials who perceive a stronger influence of their social ties, both strong and weak ties, rely less on their psychological proximity to determine their attitudes and offline behavioral intentions, indicating the critical influence of social ties. Theoretical and practical implications are suggested.

La influencia diferencial de las redes sociales en la participación social de mujeres y varones

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar el perfil de las redes personales de mujeres y varones en cuanto a la participación social de sus contactos, y el diferente papel que pueden tener sus contactos débiles y fuertes a la hora de explicar la intención de desarrollar diversas formas de participación social. A través de una encuesta on-line 263 estudiantes universitarios actualmente no involucrados en ninguna forma de participación social estimaron la probabilidad de su futura implicación en ciertos tipos de participación social y aportaron el número aproximado de familiares, amigos y conocidos que desarrollaban cada tipo. Esta última información fue utilizada para calcular el grado de centralidad de los sujetos en sus redes sociales considerando los vínculos fuertes y débiles. Los análisis llevados a cabo confirman que mujeres y varones presentan diferencias en sus redes sociales. Sólo los vínculos débiles son predictores significativos de la intención de desarrollar la participación, pero hay diferencias por tipo de participación social y por género. La influencia de los vínculos sociales es significativa si el tipo de participación social se ajusta al estereotipo de rol de género. Se discuten los resultados a la luz de la aproximación focus norm y la influencia social normativa.

Exploring Trusted Relations among Virtual Interactions in Social Networks for Detecting Influence Diffusion

Recently, social networks have shown huge potential in terms of collaborative web services and the study of peer influence as a result of the massive amount of data, datasets, and interrelations generated. These interrelations cannot guarantee the success of online social networks without ensuring the existence of trust between nodes. Detecting influential nodes improves collaborative filtering (CF) recommendations in which nodes with the highest influential capability are most likely to be the source of recommendations. Although CF-based recommendation systems are the most widely used approach for implementing recommender systems, this approach ignores the mutual trust between users. In this paper, a trust-based algorithm (TBA) is introduced to detect influential spreaders in social networks efficiently. In particular, the proposed TBA estimates the influence that each node has on the other connected nodes as well as on the whole network. Next, a Friend-of-Friend recommendation (FoF-SocialI) algorithm is addressed to detect the influence of social ties in the recommendation process. Finally, experimental results, performed on three large scale location-based social networks, namely, Brightkite, Gowalla, and Weeplaces, to test the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, are presented. The conducted experiments show a remarkable enhancement in predicting and recommending locations in various social networks.