Social Network Mechanisms – serie

Both scholars and decision-makers recognize that the functioning of an organization is the result of a complex interplay between purposively designed elements, such as structures and processes, and emergent elements, like the informal networks of relationships that connect individuals and groups. Despite this widely shared awareness, scientific knowledge on this relationship and its translation into coherent models and principles of organizational design remain fragmented and unstructured.This book adopts a network perspective that conceptualizes organizational structure as a landscape of interconnected networks composed of actors' interactions and relationships. Some of these networks are intentionally designed, grounded in formal structures, processes, and workflows. Others emerge informally, shaped by instrumental and expressive social ties. Together, they constitute the relational infrastructure through which actors coordinate and access key resources, including information, knowledge, and social or political support.Drawing on empirical studies conducted across diverse organizational contexts, the book develops a unified theory and methodology for interpreting and understanding the complex relationship between formal organizational structures and informal social networks, how they shape one another, evolve together, and jointly influence organizational outcomes

Both scholars and decision-makers recognize that the functioning of an organization is the result of a complex interplay between purposively designed elements, such as structures and processes, and emergent elements, like the informal networks of relationships that connect individuals and groups. Despite this widely shared awareness, scientific knowledge on this relationship and its translation into coherent models and principles of organizational design remain fragmented and unstructured.This book adopts a network perspective that conceptualizes organizational structure as a landscape of interconnected networks composed of actors' interactions and relationships. Some of these networks are intentionally designed, grounded in formal structures, processes, and workflows. Others emerge informally, shaped by instrumental and expressive social ties. Together, they constitute the relational infrastructure through which actors coordinate and access key resources, including information, knowledge, and social or political support.Drawing on empirical studies conducted across diverse organizational contexts, the book develops a unified theory and methodology for interpreting and understanding the complex relationship between formal organizational structures and informal social networks, how they shape one another, evolve together, and jointly influence organizational outcomes

Strong Bridges is a book about a contradiction and the opportunity it offers. For decades, social network theory has drawn its maps of advantage from the idea that brokers sit astride structural holes, reaping value from weak ties that bridge disconnected worlds. But what if some of those bridges are not weak? What if the real advantage lies not just in structure, but in trust forged in interpersonal history regardless of structure? This is the puzzle Strong Bridges takes up. It begins with guanxi, the colloquial Chinese term for relationship advantage, often dismissed as cultural peculiarity or corruption. But the authors treat guanxi as a strategic research site, not a cultural relic. They view it a niche-word pointing to a broader category of human experience. Combining analytic rigor with quality network data, they pull apart the Siamese twins of tie strength and network structure, documenting the prevalence and competitive value of high-trust ties that span structural holes, i.e., strong bridges. The book offers two discovery stories; one empirical, one theoretical. The first tracks how guanxi bridges operate in the personal networks of Chinese entrepreneurs. The second reshapes core assumptions in network theory. Across industries, events, and even a pandemic, strong bridges emerge as resilient assets distinct from embedded ties, more predictive of cooperation, and more durable than theory currently expects. This is a book about the anatomy of network advantage. It reframes brokerage not as a fragile position, but as a relationship earned, remembered, and surprisingly strong.