Intra-organizational Networks Research Articles

Understanding the role of serial acquisition and subsidiary autonomy in providing value within servitizing industrial networks

PurposeResearch examining the joint role of serial acquisitions and subsidiary autonomy in holistic value provision within servitizing industrial firms is scarce. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the role of serial acquisition and subsidiary autonomy in providing value within servitizing industrial networks.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework is developed based on the case study of a large Swedish industrial group specializing in selling industrial products and providing industrial solutions to business customers through its numerous subsidiaries.FindingsThe analysis of 14 interviews with the five subsidiaries and seven customer firms and secondary data reveals interesting findings concerning the role of serial niche acquisition strategy and subsidiary autonomy in customer value provision in servitizing organizations. In particular, the authors find that the role of acquisitions in industrial firms extends beyond growth to customer sensing and proximity. Likewise, the authors find that subsidiary autonomy facilitates value provision to customers in industrial networks.Originality/valueThe paper provides a more nuanced understanding of how serial acquisitions and subsidiary autonomy are intertwined and jointly affect industrial firms’ value provision activities amidst the servitization transition in an intraorganizational network.

License to Broker: How Mobility Eliminates Gender Gaps in Network Advantage

Brokerage in intra-organizational networks is critical to performance, but women exhibit less brokerage in their social networks and receive lower performance returns to the brokerage they exhibit than men do. We uncover a condition under which the gender gaps in network advantage are entirely negated: mobility. When women move between units of the organization, they increase their brokerage more than mobile men do. Further, such mobility eliminates the gender gap in returns to brokerage. Using a rich dataset including the personnel records, monthly performance, and email communications of thousands of employees in a large financial institution, we find support for our arguments by comparing the networks and objective performance of those who changed jobs with matched non-movers prior to and following each job change. In probing why this might be the case, we find that women movers are more likely to maintain communication ties to colleagues from their previous roles and that these persistent ties give them a discernible and gender-role-congruent explanation for connecting otherwise disconnected units and benefiting from network brokerage. Our results illuminate important mechanisms by which social network dynamics and mobility affect gender inequality and performance in organizations.

Exploration or exploitation orientation, subgroup structure and organizational knowledge creation

ABSTRACT Significant performance differences in the process of knowledge creation may exist between organisations with exploratory and exploitative tendencies due to differences in their inner network structures. This study focuses on the subgroups widespread in intra-organisational networks and their structural characteristics. We construct an agent-based model that describes the two different organisational learning models that exist in organisations – exploration-oriented and exploitation-oriented. We find that higher network density in each subgroup helps increase the speed of knowledge creation but depletes the idiosyncratic sets of beliefs and leads to premature convergence. Only when the network scale is large enough or the organisation tends to focus more on exploration can a sparse network play a positive role in knowledge creation. Moderate levels of cross-group links prevent exploitation-oriented organisations from entering the stagnation stage of knowledge growth and increase the knowledge creation performance of exploration-oriented organisations. Knowledge creation performance in exploitation-oriented organisations depends more on boundary hubs than on internal hubs. The presence of twofold hubs can improve knowledge creation performance without significantly reducing the dissimilarity of collective beliefs.

Impacts of workplace spirituality on innovative work behaviour: moderated-mediating effect of organizational silence and intra-organizational networks

ABSTRACT Innovative work behaviours require not only an individual’s intrinsic motivation but also a supportive organisational culture. However, in most Korean organisations, employees can often be seen as silent due to hierarchical or top-down organisational culture. Since workplace spirituality has been identified to be positively related to intrinsic motivation, this study examined the impact of workplace spirituality on organisational silence and innovative work behaviour. Besides, based on a social network perspective, we explored the effect of organisational social networks on the relationship between workplace spirituality, organisational silence, and innovative work behaviour. A survey was conducted with 242 employees in four companies. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the six hypotheses of this study. The results showed that workplace spirituality has a positive effect on innovative work behaviour. The indirect effect of workplace spirituality on innovative work behaviour via organisational silence was significant. Advice networks did not have significant moderated-mediating effects, while friendship networks were significant. This study contributed to supporting the role of workplace spirituality as a motivational factor that reduces organisational silence and increases innovative work behaviour. HRD practitioners should support employees to develop their workplace spirituality and be aware of organisational silence for innovative work.

Intra-Organizational Network Change and Evolution: Drivers, Effects and Boundary Conditions

Intra-Organizational Network Change and Evolution: Drivers, Effects and Boundary Conditions

Congruence, personality and centrality in small organization social networks

Objective: To analyze the associations between congruence, personality and centrality in two intra-organizational networks: search for support and selection of professional teams. Originality: Investigate how person-environment adaptation works in work groups using social networks. Method: 61 professionals linked to a tertiary sector organization participated. The Vocational Interest Scale (VIS) and the Occupational Classification Inventory Revised (OCI-R) were used to estimate congruence, and the Next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2) was used to measure personality, as well as centrality measures using the Social Networks Analysis. Results: Congruence was positively associated with Out Closeness Centrality (OCC) for the two investigated networks. Only in the support network were found negative associations between Agreeableness and Out Closeness Centrality (OCC) and also between Neuroticism and In Degree Centrality (IDC) and In Closeness Centrality (ICC). Limitations and implications are at the end of the study.

The role of inter- and intra-organisational networks in innovation: towards requisite variety

The role of inter- and intra-organisational networks in innovation: towards requisite variety

Intraorganizational Network Dynamics: Past Progress, Current Challenges, and New Frontiers

Intraorganizational Network Dynamics: Past Progress, Current Challenges, and New Frontiers

The Power of Networks: A Pre-Requisite to Social Network Analysis

Social network analysis has attained significant attention in recent times. It is a contemporary data driven technique which maps and measures social structures using network and graph theory for people analytics. A pre-requisite to social network analysis is to explore the network genesis and its evolution. Most of the social network studies in the past have focused primarily on the impact of social networks on employees but none of the studies have identified the reasons why do employees bond with specific network members in the first place and what are the different types of workplace social networks. For this reason we wanted to conduct a systematic literature review for identifying the reasons why specific workplace social networks exists, classify different types of workplace networks and highlight network ties which are beneficial for achieving organizational goals. By employing social network theory, this study investigates the intra-organizational networks of corporate business environment. Multiple databases were used to extract relevant papers for this review such as Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, Scopus and Web of Science databases and Directory of Open Access Journals. Some of the major trends identified from the 48 past papers included in this review are: (1) different types of workplace social networks are created based on specific employee interdependency; (2) strong and weak ties both are beneficial for fast information diffusion; (3) negative ties have a stronger impact on organizational outcomes then positive ties. This review will provide a new broader conceptualization of social networks and its influence on employees.

Service sector subsidiary performance in emerging markets: is it who or what you know?

PurposeThis research investigates performance determinants of service sector foreign-owned subsidiaries located in an emerging market. The focus is on the two dimensions of organizational networks (Who do you know?) and competencies (What do you know?).Design/methodology/approachData were collected via a large-scale survey of managing directors located in the midrange emerging economy of Taiwan. The data are analyzed using partial least squares structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) techniques.FindingsThe results show the importance of intraorganizational network strength as a key determinant of subsidiary performance, and that combinations of interorganizational network strength and competencies can determine performance in several subsidiaries.Originality/valueThis article offers new insights by testing a theoretical framework based on network perspective and the competence-based view of the firm in an emerging market context. It also offers an additional twist by employing symmetric (PLS-SEM) and nonsymmetric (fsQCA) methods to test the framework. This allows to arrive at robust conclusions about the complementarity and substitutability of the applied theories. This research also contributes to the current literature by providing fine-grained insights into the nature and impact of competencies and networks. It is also one of the few studies to focus specifically on service sector subsidiaries.

Optimization of the Recruitment Quota Allocation in Intra-Organizational Networks

In a decentralized organization such as a university, recruitment is critical for the development of departments. With the limited resources for recruitment, how to allocate the recruitment quotas to different departments is an essential problem for the human resource management center of the organization. Specifically, for a recruitment process that includes multiple phases, a proper number of quotas should be allocated to different departments at each recruitment phase to guarantee the recruitment performance of the whole organization. However, it is difficult since the performance of the whole recruitment process is prior unknown at each recruitment phase. Traditionally, a recruitment quota allocation scheme based on requirements raised by departments is generally adopted, which is somewhat subjective and may not achieve satisfying recruitment performance. To address the above problem, a recruitment quota allocation scheme is proposed in this paper, which is based on the theoretical modeling and optimization of the recruitment process, aiming to provide a more objective and theoretical method that may achieve optimal performance. We first define the recruitment utility as the performance metric for the recruitment process. The recruitment quota allocation problem is formulated using the Markov decision process approach, where the effect of the information of potential applicants is innovatively taken into account. Then, the recruitment quota allocation is optimized by maximizing the recruitment utility to achieve optimal recruitment performance. In addition, a recruitment quota allocation scheme based on the requirements of departments, which is traditionally adopted in the recruitment of a university, is used for comparison with the optimized scheme of the paper. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can improve the efficiency of recruitment quota allocation significantly.

Event Forecasting in Organizational Networks: A Discrete Dynamical System Approach

Both inter‐ and intraorganizational networks draw the attention of researchers and practitioners from various disciplines who view them as the fabric of the socioeconomic world. The network perspective is believed to successfully model most of the socioeconomic phenomena, which, in combination with the prospects of continuously advancing tools for automated data mining and machine learning, gives a tempting promise to effectively forecast socioeconomic events occurring in our societies and businesses. Despite their significance, the topic of event forecasting in the context of organizational networks appears unexplored. Therefore, the objective of this study was (1) to fill the theoretical gap by proposing a mathematical model for organizational network event forecasting, rooted in the social science to remain consistent with the theory, and (2) to experimentally evaluate how the model performs on real data and validate if the results support its use in practical applications. An implementation of the proposed model, based on a decision tree classifier, achieved a prediction accuracy of 87% on a longitudinal data sample and thus demonstrated the practical usability of the model.

The Influence of Network Embeddedness on Innovation Performance of MSMEs. The Mediating Role of Ambidextrous Organizational Learning

The Influence of Network Embeddedness on Innovation Performance of MSMEs. The Mediating Role of Ambidextrous Organizational Learning

Pay and networks in organizations: Incentive redesign as a driver of network change

AbstractResearch summaryWe examine how corporate innovators adapt their intraorganizational networks when firms introduce performance‐based incentive plans that center on the short‐term achievement of individuals' measurable outputs. We postulate that such plans prompt individuals to revise goals and reconfigure their networks accordingly. Using the co‐patenting data, we analyzed cases of this incentive redesign by Japanese electronics firms in the 1990s. We found that the redesign engendered the emergence of more closed and smaller networks in organizations. Although inconsistent, we found some evidence that it promoted corporate innovators to build networks with others with similar expertise. These findings support the notion of incentive‐induced network adaptation and suggest a new theme to study the effects of incentive redesign on network evolution.Managerial summaryResearch suggests that innovators' networks assist with generating novel ideas, and that some structural characteristics encourage innovation. However, knowledge about how managers can create social conditions that promote the emergence of “ideal” networks in their firms is limited. We focus on the effects of incentive redesign and explore how corporate innovators can change their intraorganizational networks when firms introduce performance‐based incentive plans. We found that the redesign engendered the emergence of more closed and smaller networks in organizations. We also obtained some evidence that suggests that the redesign prompts inventors to include those with similar expertise in their networks. Thus, it is possible that managers can use incentive plans to design innovation networks in organizations.

Let it go or let it grow? – Personal network development and the mobilization of intra-organizational social capital

We investigate how differences in personal network development affect the mobilization of social capital for new organizational members. Analyzing three waves of panel data reported by 24 newcomers in nine organizations, we ask whether the kind and volume of resources derived by focal actors depends rather on changes in the composition or in the size of their intra-organizational networks. We find that change in network composition predicts an increase in social capital mobilization over time. Network growth is found to reduce the affective resources that newcomers mobilize. Implications for subsequent research and organizational socialization practices are discussed.

Leading Networks Effectively: Literature Review and Propositions

A literature review is presented on the modes of effective network leadership within and between organizations. In total, 163 published studies, both empirical and conceptual, were parsed with regard to definitions, contexts, antecedents, and outcomes, leading to four propositions. A continuum of network leadership concepts, including shared and distributed leadership, is projected on two axes: one for the (individual actor and collective level) antecedents and one for the (type of desired) outcomes of network leadership. The new two‐by‐two model distinguishes four distinct network leadership roles: connecting, coaching, catalyzing, and consulting. The 4C network leadership model offers a set of practical roles and associated behavioral styles in different situations. Context‐moderated propositions conclude the review, to guide future empirical research on effective interorganizational and intraorganizational network leadership.

Operational capabilities dissemination for sustainable competitiveness: towards an integrated framework

This article aims to present an integrated framework, composed by micro and meso factors that impact the process of operational capabilities dissemination among an intraorganisational network (manufacturing or service provider). There are various perspectives to explain it, however, due to high number of factors and complexity of operational capabilities elements, previous studies seem to be incomplete to unfold the entire process of capability dissemination. This study comprises a multi-stage empirical analysis of manager's perceptions of the factors for building a cognitive causal model for operational capability dissemination within a network. The contribution of this study includes: 1) as a methodological tool, it can support future researchers during the difficult process of forming causal relations; 2) as a theoretical framework for operational capabilities dissemination to sustain and spread competitiveness among units; 3) can support managers to address actions for capability dissemination and overcome the challenges to keep sustainable competitiveness.

A case study of strategic human resource management: implementation levels and communication

The communication of information relevant to strategic human resource management (SHRM) has the potential to support SHRM implementation and should be reflected in the activity of an organisation's inter- and intra-organisational communication networks as forms of organisational information processing. This multiple case study examined SHRM implementation levels in a sample of oil and gas companies with the aim of examining the extent to which communication flows reflect the level of SHRM implementation. The case studies showed similarly low levels of SHRM-related communication and SHRM implementation, suggesting the need for further research to explore this relationship. The authors propose that SHRM-related communication could be an additional factor in assessing SHRM implementation levels and that organisational design must be considered in understanding low levels of SHRM-related communication.

Global and Local CSR Strategies in Foreign-Owned Subsidiaries: The Role of Networks and Competencies


 The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of networks and competency dimensions in determining the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy of foreign-owned subsidiaries. Survey data has been collected from subsidiary managing directors and analysed using structured equation modelling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis techniques. We show that networks and competencies can have competing as well as complementary effects on the global and local CSR strategies. For instance, inter-organisational network strength and competencies in high primary value chain activities seem to drive global as well as local CSR activities. However, the case is more complex for intra-organisational network relationships and subsidiaries with competencies in supporting value chain activities. The originality of this paper lies in the detailed investigation of how network relationships and competencies affect global and local CSR strategy development. We also provide novelty in applying a combination of symmetric (SEM-PLS) and non-symmetric (fsQCA) analytical techniques.

The Importance of Intra-Organizational Networking for Younger Versus Older Workers: Examining a Multi-Group Mediation Model of Individual Task Performance Enhancement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of intra-organizational networking on individual task performance, via employability. Moreover, this study also examines whether this relationship differs for younger (<40 years) versus older employees (≥40 years). A self-report questionnaire was distributed among a sample of employees working in a range of different types of organizations (n = 374). We conclude that employability fully mediates the relationship between intra-organizational networking and individual task performance. However, this mediation effect did not vary between younger and older employees. This study extends past research by applying a human capital perspective (in particular, social capital) and life-span development frameworks for explaining employability and task performance enhancement across one’s working life. It provides useful insights for stimulating career development and individual performance growth, by means of social capital, herewith increasing the individual employee’s chance to survive in nowadays’ labor markets.