Intra-organizational Networks Research Articles

Accountants’ proactivity in intra-organisational networks: a strong structuration perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the importance of accountants’ networks inside organisations, the parties who comprise those networks and how accountants go about building and maintaining their networks. It also illustrates the use of strong structuration theory, which specifically considers the networks that surround agents. The theoretical discussion highlights the significance of communication as agency in the context of accounting practice through a strong structuration perspective.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach to the inquiry was adopted. Interviews were conducted with 30 Australian accountants from 22 not-for-profit organisations. A thematic approach was used to analyse the transcripts. Structuration theory, supplemented by strong structuration, informed the study.FindingsThe interviewees attested to the importance of communication and developing networks within their organisations. They actively sought to expand and enhance their networks. The accountants played a pivotal role in networks and they pursued both horizontal and vertical relations. The accountants’ knowledge of organisational positions and perceptions of their own roles were used strategically in attempts to alter the internal structures of networked others.Research limitations/implicationsThe interviewed accountants worked in not-for-profit organisations and this may influence the findings. Future research might consider accountants working in for-profit organisations. The study provides insights into strategies to develop intra-organisational networks.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the meagre literature regarding accountants’ networks within organisations. It provides insights that may assist accountants in enhancing their own networks. Although structuration theory is well-established in accounting research, the enrichments offered by strong structuration are illustrated in this study.

Functional centrality and innovation intensity: Employee-level analysis of the Telenor group

Recent research on employee-level innovation focuses on scientists’ ability to source advanced knowledge and use it to create new ideas and innovation within a firm. The present paper introduces a new dimension to this literature: functional departments. We argue that functional centrality, namely the extent to which a functional department is central in the intra-organizational network, affects employees’ innovation intensity. We make use of a rich novel dataset at the employee-level for the Telenor Group, based on a large-scale survey among nearly 16,000 employees in all business units and functions of the company. The empirical results point out that employees’ innovation intensity is higher in departments that are centrally positioned in the company’s internal network. Task characteristics such as quality orientation, entrepreneurial attitude and result pressure moderate the relationship between centrality and innovation.

Strategy implementation and organizational change: How formal reorganization affects professional networks

Strategy implementation is difficult, particularly as it often requires changes in formal organization structures. Prior research has shown that change in the formal structure may affect employee networks. Yet, we know relatively little about how such changes affect different network ties. This paper considers how formal structural change affects senior managers’ ability to maintain their intraorganizational networks. The hypotheses are tested on sample of 884 work-related relationships of 96 partners in a global professional services firm. This firm had recently implemented a new strategy, which led to a change in the product-market focus and the resulting formal structure. Our findings reveal that the characteristics of a specific network tie determine whether it is affected by formal structural change. In particular, we find that network ties that are highly embedded in the social structure are more likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. In contrast, ties that are relationally embedded are less likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. In particular, the findings may have consequences for the success of strategy implementation and strategic transformation efforts.

Would You Slack That?

Journalistic work is increasingly conducted using cooperative technologies. But while journalists need security and privacy just like professionals in sectors like health and education, constrained finances and missing legal requirements cause journalists to rely mostly on third-party platforms for their professional communications. In this study, we analyze how journalists manage professional collaborations across myriad tasks and contexts, with a focus on how their security and privacy concerns may shape these behaviors. We find that journalists' relatively open information-sharing practices may reflect the strength of their informal intra-organizational networks, rather than their organizational commitment per se. Moreover, while journalists' like many workers' manage their security and privacy concerns by avoiding sensitive communications via certain channels, the physical shrinking newsrooms of is reducing opportunities for the face-to-face communications journalists rely on for secure, private, professional exchange. Journalists' self-censorship on collaborative platforms therefore warrants particular attention given journalism's essential role in the public sphere.

Small Firm Boundary-spanning via Bridging Ties: Achieving International Connectivity via Cross-border Inter-cluster Alliances

Abstract The notion of “people and pipelines” (i.e., interpersonal and intraorganizational networks) is a parsimonious description of the paths by which firms typically engage in boundary-spanning to develop opportunities to innovate and internationalize. Yet, we know little about how requisite connectivity develops for smaller, resource-poor firms whose access to people and pipelines is limited. I propose that small firms, who are members of industry clusters, are able to span their boundaries through bridging ties to people and pipelines via cross-border intercluster alliances. With case-based illustrations derived from cluster managers and small firms within those clusters, this research is intended to extend our understanding of bridging ties as a form of global market boundary-spanning by exploring this emerging phenomenon in the context of resource-poor, entrepreneurial firms who have no alternative, if they are to innovate and internationalize, but to do so on a shoestring budget.

Improving the value-of-input for ideation by management intervention: An intra-organizational network study

A discretionary social network in a firm is where individual employees voluntarily share new, innovative knowledge – activities in this network are essential to firm innovation. Drawing on a unique field study we quantitatively compare the situation before and after a ‘simple’ management intervention aimed at increasing discretionary social network activity. We submit that both the network position as well as the formal role of an individual both needs to be taken into account to understand the antecedents to the voluntary exchange of valuable inputs within an organization. We find empirical evidence that someone's structural position in the network prior to intervention positively contributes to the value-of-input exchanged. Contrary to expectation, however, those employees whose task it is to professionally share valuable, new knowledge attributed the input for future innovation – ideators – fall short in leveraging a favorable position in a firm's discretionary, informal social network.

Intra-organizational Networks of Innovations

In this paper we propose a complementary approach to traditional explanations of how individual network characteristics affect their ability to generate innovations. In particular, by partitioning ...

How Context Affects Tie Formation: A Field Study

Much research has studied how assortative and relational factors affect tie formation. Less attention has been given to the ways in which the environment or context in which interactions occur can affect the prevalence of tie formation. We explore the effects of contextual factors by observing nascent tie formation at a multi-day intra-organizational networking event where participants interact in a variety of different contexts. Using an app that records the exchange of digital business cards along with supplementary surveys, we find that more instrumental contexts are least conducive to tie formation; in other words, ties are most likely to form outside of the confines of the event and at the bar.

Why firms make errors in selecting technological opportunities?

This paper studies why firms systematically err in selecting technological opportunities. We develop hypotheses linking the locus where technology opportunities arise and the type of errors (omission, commission) that firms make while evaluating them. We propose that organizational decision- makers are more likely to focus on, and positively evaluate, technological opportunities that fit into the predominant technological frames in the organization, while they are more likely to reject or abandon opportunities which do not fit with the predominant frames. Thus, decision-makers are more prone to commission errors while evaluating the technological opportunities generated by central inventors in te intra-organizational network or by inventors located in central R&D locations, because these individuals can better influence the technological frames shared by organizational members. By contrast, socially or geographically peripheral inventors are less likely to affect or influence the collectively held technological frames in an organization. Hence, the technological opportunities they generate are more likely to be subject to omission errors – i.e. to be disregarded irrespective their objective value. Operationalizing opportunity-selection in terms of patent-renewal decisions, we test the hypotheses empirically in context of mobile phone and PDA industry between 1990 and 2010. This paper contributes to the cognitive approach to technology strategy and organization.

Public managers’ networking and innovative work behavior: the importance of career incentives

From theories on middle managers’ entrepreneurship in private organizations, it is known that the structural network position of middle managers influences their innovative work behavior. Our study investigates if in a governmental setting, the intra-organizational networking behavior of public managers has a similar positive influence on innovative work behavior. As networking mechanisms may depend on the particular context and organizational norms, we also investigate the influence of networking motivations. According to social network research in private enterprises, social network links can be used to advance individual careers. According to public management and Public Service Motivation theories, public managers have a collective orientation aimed at producing public goods. Therefore, we investigate if, next to intra-organizational networking, an individual career motive or a collective motivation for networking explains innovative work behavior. In a case study on public managers of a municipality in Mexico City, we find a strong influence of networking on innovative work behavior. We also find support for additional influences of individual career motives, but no evidence for collective motivations. Points for practitioners Intra-organizational networking of public managers leads to increased innovative behavior in a governmental setting. In addition, when aiming at increasing innovative behavior, individual career motives seem to have stronger positive effects than collective motivations (such as teamwork-related motivations).

Social network analysis in sport research: an emerging paradigm

While network analysis is a major methodological approach in many disciplines of the social and natural sciences, it has only recently come into the focus of sport researchers. This article assesses the utility of network analysis to analyze sport phenomena. We begin with an overview of social network analysis (SNA) and related concepts. To explore research topics and approaches, we conduct a systematic review of empirical literature of SNA and its application to sport. Based on this review, we provide a six-dimensional conceptual typology of SNA applications in sport – competition networks, interaction networks, inter-organizational networks, intra-organizational networks, affiliation networks and social environments. Potential future directions for this promising approach in sport research are discussed.

Foundations of Relating: Theory and Evidence on the Formation of Street‐Level Bureaucrats’ Workplace Networks

AbstractDespite the importance of peers in forming role expectations, fostering group identity, and facilitating job learning, limited theory and empirical evidence exist on the antecedents of street‐level peer relationships. To address this gap, the authors draw on social capital and social exchange theories to develop hypotheses about the micro‐social foundations of street‐level bureaucrats’ peer selection. The hypotheses are tested using a rich data set from an intraorganizational network of teachers in a large urban school implementing a reform that strongly promoted frontline innovation. Both structural and instrumental considerations, such as seeking peers possessing characteristics and resources valued by the reform, figure prominently in the work relations of street‐level bureaucrats. These results imply that the introduction of improvement initiatives requiring frontline participation, in addition to altering work practices, may also alter social networks within the frontline of an organization in a manner that favors some frontline workers over others.

Informational status in intra-organizational networks: The role of knowledge sharing and structural holes

The aim of this study was to evaluate to what extent the similarity of informational status of intra-organizational actors relates to behavioral (knowledge sharing) and structural antecedents (structural holes) in a knowledge-intensive organization. The study was operationalized through the analysis of 462 dyads (22*(22−1)) that comprise social relationships in a development organization of technology for telemedicine. The results indicate that the similarity of independent variables was associated to similarity in informational status, but there is no interaction between them. It is concluded that the equal status can be achieved even when two actors have different bases for its construction, whether through knowledge sharing practices or through structural holes. This conclusion relativizes what is called Matthew effect in status research.

How does knowledge network affect a firm’s explorative innovation? The contingent role of R&D collaborations

ABSTRACTInnovation is a process of knowledge recombination [Fleming, L. 2001. “Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search.” Management Science 47: 119 p]. Extant literature highlights the importance of a firm’s knowledge base for innovation, while little is known about the structure of a firm’s knowledge base and how it affects the firm’s explorative innovation. Based upon the perspective of network analysis, we portray a firm’s knowledge base as an intra-organisational knowledge network and examine the effects of two structural features of the network – density and centralisation – on the firms’ exploratory innovation. Using a manual collected dataset of 738 Chinese automobile manufacturers, we find that a firm explores fewer new knowledge elements when the firm holds a dense knowledge network or a centralised knowledge network. More importantly, with the increase of a firm’s R&D collaborations with external actors, the negative effect of density is mitigated while the negative effect of centralisation is reinforced. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Beyond knowledge based intra organizational network

Studies concerning intra-organizational network was found very interesting since each research shared different findings. Factors such as timing, place, unit of analysis and methodology caused the results differs one another. This study used theory of friendship in addressing network phenomenon. After carefully analyzing several research report from 90’s to early 2000 we come into conclusion the existence of knowledge-based network. The knowledge perspective found to have better explanation in examining long run network performance. By holding this as true and valid findings, we proposed to replace broker position to knowledge mediator, and change the position of producer, supplier, distributor and customer to the open source format. The research enclosed with proposing four basic quadrants that suitable for knowledge-based network structure.

Intraorganizational Network Dynamics in Times of Ambiguity

Contrary to the assumption of relational inertia that is prevalent in much of the research on organizational change, I propose that intraorganizational networks are instead subject to transitory shifts when organizational change produces high levels of ambiguity for employees. I develop a theoretical account of how networks defined by formal, semiformal, and informal organizational structure change in response to heightened ambiguity. I argue that, when ambiguity increases, people will tend to (1) decrease communication with formal network ties that do not have a significant semiformal component, (2) increase communication with semiformal network ties that do not have a significant formal component, and (3) increase communication with informal network ties. Empirical support for these propositions comes from unique data—including 40 weeks of archived email metadata, the full roster of email distribution lists, personnel records, and qualitative interviews—that span the period before, during, and after an ambiguity-producing restructuring at a large information services firm. These findings contribute to research on organizational structure, organizational change, and social capital activation and also have implications for management practice.

Preentry Contacts and the Generation of Nascent Networks in Organizations

This paper investigates the impact of individuals' social ties at organizational entry on the formation of intraorganizational networks. When individuals enter organizations with one or more preentry relationships in place, I argue they form more extensive networks post entry than their untied counterparts. However, it is also suggested that under some conditions—i.e., when quality is more certain—the relationship between pre- and postentry social structure is contingent on individuals' quality attributes. I test and find support for these hypotheses in a study of new business and law professionals. The results indicate that individuals with an initial advantage in social ties form more extensive networks post entry than those without such an advantage, and that when certainty about quality is high, this effect depends on the quality attributes of the new entrants. Implications of this study for research on social networks, resource accumulation, and inequality are discussed.

How do civil servants view the importance of collaboration and scientific knowledge for climate change adaptation?

Successfully navigating the complex challenges posed by wicked environmental problems requires that inter- and intra-organisational policy networks share information, integrate knowledge and collaborate in decision-making processes. However, within government, the hierarchical and mechanistic design of bureaucratic agencies is often not well suited to this task. As a result, governments have increasingly implemented mechanisms encouraging interagency collaboration to better address complex environmental governance challenges, an example being climate change adaptation. In this article, we take an ‘inside look’ at how civil servants, working in the government agencies responsible for progressing climate change adaptation strategies, view collaboration and draw on science-based knowledge to inform decision-making. Focusing on civil servants in agencies from the states of Victoria, Australia, and New York, the USA, and the province of British Columbia, Canada, the results show variation across jurisdictions in terms of the collaborative mechanisms used. However, respondents in all three jurisdictions reported remarkably consistent views on the importance of collaboration and scientific knowledge to their role. Overall, our results suggest a gap exists between the motivation of civil servants to collaborate and draw on scientific information and their capacity/ability to do so, pointing to potential institutional and systemic barriers that require further research.

Understanding the continued use of intra-organizational blogs: An adaptive habituation model

As intra-organizational blogs are expected to provide a flexible, intra-organizational networking platform that can effectively facilitate knowledge sharing, it is worthwhile to address why employees embrace a blogging system and engage in continual blogging. Drawing upon the existing literature, this paper proposes a conceptual model that suggests the continued use of internal blogs by employees is strongly driven by the force of habituation, which is repeatedly adapted by the effects of network externalities and managerial incentives. To empirically test this “adaptive habituation model”, actual usage data are collected from the internal blogging platform of a large telecommunication company to measure all related constructs. Statistical results from regression analyses illustrate that the proposed model effectively explains why employees continue to use corporate internal blogging systems. Practically, our findings suggest that while managerial measures, such as a ranking mechanism, may help leverage the benefits of intra-organizational social networking applications, it may take some time for these effects to emerge.

WHAT IS A “GOOD” SOCIAL NETWORK FOR POLICY IMPLEMENTATION? THE FLOW OF KNOW-HOW FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

This study concerns how intraorganizational networks affect the implementation of policies and practices in organizations. In particular, we attend to the role of the informal subgroup or clique in cultivating and distributing locally adapted and integrated knowledge, or know-how. We develop two hypotheses based on the importance of intraorganizational coordination for an organization's capacity for change. The first emphasizes the importance of distributing know-how evenly to potential recipient subgroups. The second emphasizes the importance of restricting know-how to flow from high know-how subgroups. We test our hypotheses with longitudinal network data in 21 schools, finding stronger support for the second hypothesis than the first. Our findings can help managers cultivate know-how flows to contribute to organizational change.