Relational Ties Research Articles

Social networks' group tie strength and travel behavior

The last decades saw an increased interest in the social aspects of urban mobility, particularly in understanding the linkage between social network (SN) ties and travel behavior. Most studies analyzed ego-centric networks, focused on dyadic relations and distinguished between weak and strong ties. The purpose of this study is to understand the hidden layers connecting social network group ties and its associated travels within a meeting context. Data included 315 relations based on 137 group meetings that took place in the city of Tel Aviv, Israel at either a cafe, pub or a restaurant and involved three or more participants.We developed a group tie strength index as a spectrum ranged from weak to strong ties based on four parameters: intimacy, duration of connection, frequency, and modes of communication among group members. The study reveals that majority of the connections tend to be at the medium of the spectrum. This indicates that the common classification into weak/strong ties in relation to travel behavior is overlooking important segments of ties and that there is a difference in tie strength between dyadic and triadic/group meetings. Classification and Regression Trees (CART) model analysis explored how Social Network group tie strength (SNGTS) of members participating in a meeting event can be predicted by the event context and the contextual travel pattern. Two CART trees were found. Each started with a different variable for the first split differentiation and showed different tree paths for explaining the group tie strength for an event-based participants. These include the “communication means” that were used to arrange the meeting and the “meeting type” (i.e.- friends, family, and business- oriented meetings) variables. Five more variables were found to be related to predicting the SN group tie strength including: meeting duration, distance of meeting place from residence, transport means and travel duration to the meeting and age.

Purchasing professionals and the flat-rate bias: Effects of price premiums, past usage, and relational ties on price plan choice

Purchasing professionals arguably choose a price plan that leads to the lowest costs—all else being equal—for their companies when buying services. However, evidence suggests that they prefer flat rates, even where these are more expensive than pay-per-use options. A series of four experiments showed that experienced purchasing professionals tend to exhibit a flat-rate bias in their price plan choices across different business services. The experiments also investigated moderators that intensify or attenuate this bias, which decreased when the flat-rate option was the more expensive alternative but increased with past usage, with upper bound extremes. We also found directional support that the flat-rate bias increases when the buyer-seller relationship is stronger. The experiments also revealed how insurance, convenience, taximeter, overestimation, distrust, and administration effects are related to preferences for flat rates. Beyond their contribution to the pricing literature, these results provide actionable insights for marketing managers and purchasing professionals.

Religious participation and attitude towards LGBT+ communities. The case of Italy

In recent years, LGBT + communities have obtained significant victories in terms of recognition and civil rights in Western countries. Nonetheless, various forms of discrimination are still common, and a wide extent of variation is observed in societal attitudes towards LGBT + people. Several reasons may explain this heterogeneity, including religion. This work proposes a novel measure of tolerance towards LGBT + people, i.e. the Queer Friendliness Index, based on microdata drawn from a survey of citizen perception in Italy. Subsequently, we analyse the effect of active religious participation on the degree of tolerance towards LGBT + communities. To address self-selection among parish members, we resort to the Heckman procedure. We find that religious participation, reinforcing traditional values and creating strong relational ties among parish members, distorts the marginal effects of the socio-economic determinants of tolerance, producing an adverse effect. This problem may explain the large territorial differences observed across Italian macro-areas.

Microfoundations of R&D Alliance Formation: The Interplay of Scientist Mobility and the Cooperative Context of Collaboration

Alliance research emphasizes that firms can access research and development (R&D) collaboration opportunities when they enjoy relational or geographic embeddedness with potential partners. However, how can firms that are not embedded with prospective partners establish alliances? We emphasize the microfoundations of R&D alliance formation and propose that scientist mobility is an important substitutive mechanism that helps foster collaboration opportunities between firms that are poorly embedded. Specifically, we posit and show that in high-tech industries, scientist mobility is more facilitative for R&D alliance formation when potential partners lack relational ties between them or are not geographically colocated. Our findings demonstrate how incorporation of the competitive labor market context and its interplay with the cooperative context significantly changes the insights of a fundamental research stream emphasizing the importance of the cooperative context for alliance formation.

How context affects people\u2019s willingness to register for the deceased organ donation programme

BackgroundThe deceased organ donation programme is new in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to improve acceptability, a broad understanding of public perspectives is thought to be helpful. Therefore, this study aims to explore the extent to which context plays a role in the willingness to register for the deceased organ donation programme in Dubai, UAE.MethodsThis study used a qualitative methodology and was gauged by the tenets of a social ecological model and lay knowledge. Audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants. The data were subsequently analysed thematically.ResultsFour themes emerged from the dataset: fear and body integrity, family, relational ties and the identification of the recipient, religious conviction, and knowledge and personal experiences. The participants feared the whole process, were not aware of the religious outlook, and their knowledge regarding the programme was scarce. In addition, family-related factors, such as parental authority and hierarchy in the family, were also major influencers.ConclusionUsing the social ecological model and lay knowledge helped to unravel the contextual factors that affected the willingness of participants to register for the deceased organ donation programme in Dubai, UAE, thereby enabling the development of a holistic understanding of deceased organ donation. The responses mainly stemmed from participants’ social contexts; hence, awareness campaigns should be tailored to inform people about the technical aspects and address their contextual concerns.

Forms and functions of bridging factors: specifying the dynamic links between outer and inner contexts during implementation and sustainment

BackgroundBridging factors are relational ties, formal arrangements, and processes that connect outer system and inner organizational contexts. They may be critical drivers of evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation and sustainment. Yet, the complex interplay between outer and inner contexts is often not considered. Bridging factors were recently defined in the updated Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework. Further identification and specification of this construct will advance implementation models, measures, and methods. Our goal is to advance bridging factor research by identifying relevant dimensions and exemplifying these dimensions through illustrative case studies.MethodsWe used a multiple case study design. Each case (n = 10) represented different contexts, EBPs, and bridging factor types. Inclusion criteria were the presence of clearly distinguishable outer and inner contexts, identifiable bridging factor, sufficient information to describe how the bridging factor affected implementation, and variation from other cases. We used an iterative qualitative inquiry process to develop and refine a list of dimensions. Case data were entered into a matrix. Dimensions comprised the rows and case details comprised the columns. After a review of all cases, we collectively considered and independently coded each dimension as function or form.ResultsWe drew upon the concepts of functions and forms, a distinction originally proposed in the complex health intervention literature. Function dimensions help define the bridging factor and illustrate its purpose as it relates to EBP implementation. Form dimensions describe the specific structures and activities that illustrate why and how the bridging factor has been customized to a local implementation experience. Function dimensions can help researchers and practitioners identify the presence and purpose of bridging factors, whereas form dimensions can help us understand how the bridging factor may be designed or modified to support EBP implementation in a specific context. We propose five function and three form bridging factor dimensions.ConclusionsBridging factors are described in many implementation models and studies, but without explicit reference or investigation. Bridging factors are an understudied and critical construct that requires further attention to facilitate implementation research and practice. We present specific recommendations for a bridging factors research agenda.

India’s Nepal Policy (1950-2020) and Globalisation in Nepal: Challenges within and from China

Seventy years (1950-2020) of India’s diplomatic ties with Nepal have been defined by deep-rooted socio-cultural, economic and people to people relations. The two countries share an open border that is nowhere found in a contested South Asia. Meanwhile, as a landlocked country between India and China, Nepal has struggled to keep up with its national interests and global aspirations. With its India centric foreign policy, Nepal has time and again attempted to reduce its dependence on India and sought to improve ties with China and other countries. The advent of globalisation in the 1990s bestowed Nepal to explore opportunities for its economic growth and shift to remuneration and services-based economy from agriculture. The labour migration from Nepal to third countries changed Nepal’s foreign policy objectives with India as until now India was the largest recipient of the Nepalese labourers. The arrival of democracy allowed Nepal to interact with China more openly in the last two decades, which has stood as a challenge to India’s traditional presence in Nepal. In this light, the present study examines the seventy years of India’s Nepal policy and attempts to contextualise China into it. It studies the overriding elements of Nepal’s foreign policy, along with India and China’s strategic interests in Nepal. With a focus on India’s Nepal policy, the paper further argues that India’s missteps and assertive stance towards Nepal have caused a great deal of damage, eventually pushing Nepal towards China. These moves have also presented Beijing an opportunity to advance its ties in trade, investment and military relations with Nepal and ensure stability and control in Tibet by putting a stop to anti-China activities in Nepal with the help and support from the Nepalese Government and Army.

Informal academic networks and the value of significant social interactions in supporting quality assessment practices

ABSTRACT This research investigated social interactions within small significant networks across a range of higher education settings to determine their role in supporting improvements to assessment. Thirty-four academic staff from three higher education settings (Australia, Canada and Sweden) provided assessment change examples and drew network diagrams to explain their interactions. Significant social interactions were defined as engaged exchanges between people who trust and respect each other, around topics that hold common value. They led to an emotional response, promoted reflection and resulted in action and/or a shift in thinking. Significant social interactions were demonstrated to be effective in supporting changes in assessment practices. The qualitative findings were supplemented with quantitative investigation of the relational ties within the networks. The most significant relational ties related to changes in the assessment were the value of the interactions (d = .64) and the similarity between individuals (d = .50). Authors recommend that leaders in higher education heed lessons learned about how value was generated within networks and utilized for improvement activities. It is suggested that the following positive change-oriented behaviours be developed and actively encouraged: Building of diverse networks; appreciating reciprocity; forging trust; creation of time and space for significant social interactions; and external recognition of the shift toward quality assessment practices. This study builds on existing literature for improving teaching and assessment in higher education, and particularly highlights the benefits of informal academic networks and the potential for significant interactions as a mechanism for change toward a quality agenda.

Spreading Curricular Reform: A Social Network Analysis

The purpose of this study was to inform not only the education field but also any industry undergoing large-scale reform of the types of organizational roles and relational ties that drive momentum. This study offers an explanation for the spread of organizational change in the context of teacher education reform, specifically in that of University–School Partnerships in the Renewal of Educator Preparation (US Prep). Knowledge of relationships in organizational change informs administration, policy makers, and curriculum change agents of requisite social structures to launch the programs they want to grow, and halt the programs they want to stop. Through social network modeling and a quantitative analysis of social capital exchange, this study illustrates the relational ties within two large state universities implementing the US Prep curricular reform model. The findings of this study support the social network theory of the strength in weak ties or that loosely connected networks foster greater change momentum. The social network analysis illustrates the integral roles and relationships driving the expansion of the coalition and suggests to policy makers that these roles and the types of social capital exchanged are imperative for change efforts that spread.

Family relationships and adolescent loneliness: An application of social network analysis in family studies.

In family contexts, individuals are embedded in networks of relationships. Social network analysis provides a unique framework to investigate family relationships as interrelated networks above and beyond dyadic familial relationships. In the current paper, we used the notion of triadic closure to investigate how various configurations of family networks, classified by their relationship ties, differ in predicting adolescents' experiences of loneliness. We classified different types of network structures based on whether all 3 family members (i.e., child, mother, father) shared high-quality relationships with one another (closed) or whether 1 or more low quality ties existed in the family triad (open). Results indicated that, compared with adolescents in families containing 1 or more poor-quality ties, adolescents in families containing all high-quality relational ties experienced lower levels of loneliness, above and beyond the impact of gender, parents' education and mental health, and family income. Simply put, adolescents' experiences of loneliness is not tied to the number of high-quality relationships they experience within the family but rather is dependent on the presence of high-quality relationships among all family ties. With the introduction of 1 low-quality relationship within a family triad, additional low-quality relationships appear to make little difference. In line with family systems theory, our examination of the family as a whole, rather than as a summative combination of smaller relationships, indicates that a closed family structure is important for protecting adolescents against experiences of loneliness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Ties in Tough Times: How Social Capital Helps Lower-Income Jewish Parents Weather the Economic Hardship of COVID-19.

In this exploratory study, we examined how social ties helped lower-income Jewish parents in the Greater Philadelphia area weather the COVID-19 pandemic. We interviewed 36 parents who self-identified as Jewish, had at least one school-age child, and earned less than the median Jewish household income in the Philadelphia area. We analyzed the data through the lens of social capital, focusing on three forms: bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. Unlike in weather-related disasters, where social capital yields crucial physical help, the social distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic changed how social capital functions. Parents with strong social ties in the Jewish community were able to connect to people and institutions of power, such as rabbis and Jewish organizations, who provided valuable material resources while families sheltered in place. We describe how people develop relational ties by doing something with and for a social group, and discuss how extended periods of social distancing can threaten the flow of social capital.

Relationality and linked lives during transitions to parenthood in Europe: an analysis of institutionally framed work-care divisions

This article ties together key findings from a 12-year cross-national qualitative collaboration that involved researchers from nine European countries. Our comparative analysis draws on longitudinal heterosexual couple data, in which both partners were interviewed first, during pregnancy, and second, between six months and two-and-a-half years after childbirth. We tackle the relational ties that shape family practices from a lifecourse perspective, emphasising the interdependent construction of motherhood and fatherhood identities, couples’ institutional embeddedness and linked lives. Analysing the data by combining the relationality and lifecourse perspectives brings forth how women and men enact agency in a constrained environment while making consequential decisions about their own, their partners’ and children’s futures. Whereas the gender culture provides parents with arguments and discourses to motivate their work-care plans, the policy context limits how new parents interact as they seek to escape or cope with institutionally prescribed gender divisions of work and care.

Using Three Social Network Analysis Approaches to Understand Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Sharing the same philosophy of “relations matter” with computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), social network analysis (SNA) has become a common methodology in the CSCL research. In this research, I use SNA methods from relational ties, network modes, and integrated methods perspectives to understand attributes of relations in CSCL. I design, conduct, and evaluate three SNA analytics on the same dataset from an online course to understand CSCL entities, relations, and processes. This online collaborative discussion in this course stresses students’ knowledge inquiry, construction, and building through peer interactions. Results show that compared to traditional SNA methods, these three SNA approaches can reveal more detailed, richer picture of the collaborative learning processes, particularly, the interactional, multi-modal, and temporal aspects. Moreover, these SNA approaches are generalizable for understanding similar CSCL settings. Based on the results, this research proposes methodological implications to further apply and develop SNA in the CSCL field.

Role of succession planning and management accounting towards the performance of family-owned businesses with a moderating role of networking orientation

The underpinning objective of this current study to test the role of succession planning (structural, cognitive, and relational ties) and management accounting practices towards the performance (financial and non-financial) of family-owned SMEs with moderating role of networking orientation. We surveyed 306 owners/managers of family-owned SMEs from the sports good industry (manufacturing units). The findings show that the impact of succession planning, structural, cognitive and relational ties towards performance is positive and significant. Furthermore, management accounting practices significantly and positively influence the performance of family-owned SMEs. Moreover, networking orientation positively significantly moderates the relationship between succession planning, management accounting and performance of family-owned SMEs. The empirical findings of the current study facilitate the family-owned SMEs and policymakers in understanding the significance of succession planning and management accounting towards the performance and also enable them to understand the role of networking orientation

Finance and fossil capital: A community divided?

One of the most obvious, but perhaps academically overlooked, communities engaging in the politics of extraction in Canada is the “business community.” While some attention has been paid to the political influence of the Canadian fossil fuel industry—particularly through the work of the Corporate Mapping Project—less has been paid to the broader network of capitalists, through which a political community might arise. Adopting a Poulantzian view of the state as a social relation, this paper explores the degree to which such a community exists in opposition to aggressive climate policy in the Canadian context. This research focuses on the extent to which fossil and financial capitalists form a cohesive network, capable of sharing perspectives and preferences on climate change and the future of oil and gas extraction, and mobilizing collectively to pursue them. The paper draws on a network analysis of connections (shared ownership, lending, and director interlocks) between and within major fossil-fuel based corporations and major financial corporations in Canada, in order to see whether or not relational ties across the sectors are sparse or dense, and whether they are broadly diffused across companies or concentrated among a few key players. The resulting analysis shows that fossil capital is structurally tied to finance, and the sectors are joined through lending, holdings and directorships, with some financial institutions playing more important structural positions within the network than others. As activists are already targeting financial institutions as part of their ongoing resistance efforts against fossil extraction and financial corporations, the findings from this study suggest continued social movement pressure and we provide some finer grained suggestions for which actors to target. The current conjuncture indicates that policy pathways to zero emissions will in part depend on breaking the load bearing joints in the fossil-finance capital network.

Geographic search, potential absorptive capacity and radical innovation performance: the moderating role of collaborative network

PurposeA firm's geographic boundaries represent an important demarcation line when searching for new knowledge. Prior research on geographic search has generated conflicting results concerning its influence on firm innovation outcomes. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by examining how and under which conditions geographic search affects firm radical innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study hypothesizes a positive association between a firm's geographic search and radical innovation performance, which is mediated by potential absorptive capacity (PAC). It further proposes that the influence of geographic search on PAC will be moderated by a firm's collaborative network. Drawing on a random sample of 286 Chinese manufacturing firms, the theoretical model is tested.FindingsThe study's results show a positive relationship between geographic search and radical innovation performance, which is partially mediated by PAC. Moreover, attributes of collaborative networks (i.e. diverse location of and strong relational ties with partners) are observed to enhance the positive effect of geographic search on PAC.Originality/valueThis paper advances the understanding of how and when firms can better capture the benefits of geographic search in the development of radical innovation.

How cooperative innovation could be more effective in China: a relationship perspective

PurposeConsidering strategic information sharing (SIS), this paper aims to develop a better understanding of how relation-specific investments (RSIs) influence cooperative innovation performance (CIP) in downstream channel relationships. Also examined was the moderating effect of relational trust in that the indigenous practice ofguanxiis especially critical in China.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a questionnaire in Chinese high-tech industries, with a valid response from 310 companies. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the conceptual model and hypotheses, combining mediation and moderation analysis.FindingsResults show that the influences of specific investments vary according to the specificity dimensions examined. Specifically, human RSI influences CIP and SIS most significantly, and the impact of procedural RSI is, relatively, the weakest. Relational trust’s moderating role is confirmed, and SIS plays a partially mediating role in enhancing vertical cooperative innovation.Practical implicationsManagers should know clearly different roles of RSIs in inter-firm cooperative innovation and prioritize human RSI and brand RSI when investing into channels. More importantly, the findings reveal that strategy-level information sharing should be valued more. It is also recommended that relational ties are vital, especially in Chinese business context.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first few to investigate how the effects of disaggregated RSIs in inter-firm cooperative innovation vary and the importance of SIS in vertical relationships. The results provide insightful guidance for researchers and managers in how to better manage RSIs to improve CIP.

The dynamics of an online learning community in a hybrid statistics classroom over time: Implications for the question-oriented problem-solving course design with the social network analysis approach

This study applied the question-oriented problem-solving (QOPS) pedagogy in Statistics learning and addressed several methodological and theoretical gaps in SNA studies to inform instructional and learning implications for teachers and students. The limitations in SNA studies included the lack of theoretical support in the analysis, the homogeneous medium where the data for SNA is collected, the constraints in the diversity of the network modes, and the lack of associations about the SNA measures with learning outcomes. Thus, we investigated 1) how a learning community based on social media evolved with the implementation of the QOPS activities, 2) changes in instructors and learners' roles in light of their one-mode and two-mode SNA measures, and 3) how different relational ties and SNA measures were associated with student outcomes. Participants were 23 graduate students (females: 52.17%) and an instructional team of three. Seven hundred four messages, including 118 posts and 586 comments, were collected from the private advanced statics Facebook learning group over an 18-week advanced Statics course. Aligned with the QOPS approach, the learning community became more interactive and cohesive, as reflected in their one-mode SNA measures. Besides, the two-mode measures, including density, GCC, reciprocity, transitivity, and strong/weak components, demonstrated that the learning community became denser and more interactive via their shared discussion. The instructional team played unique roles as a leader or facilitator in their interaction with students, while students' roles as a leader and coordinator were identified. Students' outdegree, degree, and closeness centralities have the most consistent predictive validity of their learning outcomes. Higher values in degree or closeness via shared discussion topics such as discussion of quizzes, help-seeking, and course administrative communication also predicted performance. The study results have practical implications for instructors and researchers in designing the hybrid learning environment and providing scaffolds to promote help-seeking.

On boundary spanners and interfirm embeddedness: The role of guanxi institution in China

Based on social embeddedness theory and institutional theory, we construct a research model that depicts how boundary spanners’ personal relationships affect dyadic embeddedness at the organizational level, under the varying influence of guanxi institution across different regions in China. We empirically test our model by analyzing data collected from 225 retail gas stations within the distribution network of a major Chinese petroleum company. Our analysis shows that boundary spanners need to first establish relational ties, which, in turn, influence interfirm dyadic embeddedness. Additionally, the results indicate that the informal institutions, such as guanxi in China, exert an indirect effect on personal trust through personal closeness. The informal institutions also moderate the effects of personal level trust on organizational level trust, which is a key linkage between personal relationship and interfirm embeddedness.

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW…”

ABSTRACTThe racial composition of couples is a salient indicator of race’s impact on mate selection, but how well do those in intimate partnerships know the racial identities of their partners? While prior research has revealed that an individual’s race may be perceived differently than how they identify, most of what is known comes from brief interactions, with less information on established relationships. This study examines whether discrepancies in the reports of a person’s race or ethnicity can be identified even within intimate relationships, as well as which relational, social, and attitudinal factors are predictive of divergent or concordant reports. We draw on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=3467), a U.S.-based dataset that uniquely provides both the father’s self-reported race and Hispanic origin and the mother’s report of the father’s race and ethnicity. We compare reports of the father’s race/Hispanic origin from both parents to assess the extent of mismatch, and we distinguish between whether mothers view the father’s race as similar to or different from her own. We find roughly 14% of mothers provide a race and Hispanic origin that is inconsistent with the father’s report, with a large share reflecting differences in the self-identified and perceived race of fathers who are reported as Hispanic. Among mismatched reports, mothers are more likely to report a race/ethnicity for the father that matches her own, depressing the number reporting interracial unions. Perceptions of racial homogamy are especially likely when mothers view racial sameness as important to marriage. Further, mismatches are more common in the midst of weak relational ties (i.e. non-marital relationships) and are less common when both parents are college-educated. These findings reveal that intimate unions are a site where race is socially constructed and provide insight into how norms of endogamy manifest within formed relationships.