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The micro foundations of organizational social networks: A review and an agenda for future research.

Tasselli, S; Kilduff, M; Menges, JI; (2015) The micro foundations of organizational social networks: A review and an agenda for future research. Journal of Management , 41 (5) 1361 - 1387. 10.1177/0149206315573996. Green open access

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Abstract

This paper focuses on an emergent debate about the micro-foundations of organizational social networks. We consider three theoretical positions: an individual agency perspective suggesting that people, through their individual characteristics and cognitions, shape networks; a network patterning perspective suggesting that networks, through their structural configuration, form people; and a co-evolution perspective suggesting that people in their idiosyncrasies and networks in their differentiated structures co-evolve. We come to the conclusion that individual attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes cannot be fully understood without considering the structuring of organizational contexts in which people are embedded, and that social network structuring and change in organizations cannot be fully understood without considering the psychology of purposive individuals. To guide future research, we identify key questions from each of the three theoretical perspectives and, particularly, encourage more research on how individual actions and network structure co-evolve in a dynamic process of reciprocal influence.

Type: Article
Title: The micro foundations of organizational social networks: A review and an agenda for future research.
Location: USA
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/0149206315573996
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1177/0149206315573996
Additional information: Copyright © The Author(s) 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
Keywords: social networks, structural patterning, individual differences, co-evolution
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > UCL School of Management
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1469111
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