IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v25y2014i2p401-419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Be Careful What You Wish For: The Effects of Issue Interpretation on Social Choices in Professional Networks

Author

Listed:
  • E. N. Bridwell-Mitchell

    (Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138)

  • Theresa K. Lant

    (Lubin School of Business, Pace University, Pleasantville, New York 10570)

Abstract

This research examines the role of agency and choice in how individuals use social networks. Prior research has addressed how individual characteristics such as status and the ability to accurately perceive network ties influence individuals’ social choices in a given situation. In contrast, we examine how individuals’ interpretation of the issues in a situation affects their social choices and access to social capital. How individuals interpret issues influences which contacts they consider most valuable in that situation. This assessment in turn influences social choices, such as from whom to seek advice. In a study of school managers or principals, respondents solicited 362 contacts for advice in a simulated problem-solving exercise. The findings revealed that managers solicit advice from different kinds of contacts depending on whether the managers frame the issues strategically or politically. When they frame the issues strategically, their egocentric advice network consists of contacts they perceive to have more expertise and material resources. When they frame the issues politically, their egocentric advice network comprises contacts they perceive to have more influence and to be more trustworthy. When managers have indefinite issue frames, they seek advice by relying more on general criteria, such as expertise, trust, and their typical frequency of interaction with contacts.

Suggested Citation

  • E. N. Bridwell-Mitchell & Theresa K. Lant, 2014. "Be Careful What You Wish For: The Effects of Issue Interpretation on Social Choices in Professional Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 401-419, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:401-419
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2013.0840
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2013.0840
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.2013.0840?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Theresa K. Lant, 1992. "Aspiration Level Adaptation: An Empirical Exploration," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(5), pages 623-644, May.
    2. Jane E. Dutton & Liam Fahey & V. K. Narayanan, 1983. "Toward understanding strategic issue diagnosis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(4), pages 307-323, October.
    3. Powell, Melanie & Ansic, David, 1997. "Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 605-628, November.
    4. Edward Bishop Smith & Tanya Menon & Leigh Thompson, 2012. "Status Differences in the Cognitive Activation of Social Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 67-82, February.
    5. David P. Brandon & Andrea B. Hollingshead, 2004. "Transactive Memory Systems in Organizations: Matching Tasks, Expertise, and People," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(6), pages 633-644, December.
    6. Gerard P. Hodgkinson & Nicola J. Bown & A. John Maule & Keith W. Glaister & Alan D. Pearman, 1999. "Breaking the frame: an analysis of strategic cognition and decision making under uncertainty," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(10), pages 977-985, October.
    7. Ray Reagans & Ezra W. Zuckerman, 2001. "Networks, Diversity, and Productivity: The Social Capital of Corporate R&D Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 502-517, August.
    8. Barbara S. Lawrence, 2006. "Organizational Reference Groups: A Missing Perspective on Social Context," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 80-100, February.
    9. Rob Cross & Lee Sproull, 2004. "More Than an Answer: Information Relationships for Actionable Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 446-462, August.
    10. Jane E. Dutton & Eric J. Walton & Eric Abrahamson, 1989. "Important Dimensions Of Strategic Issues: Separating The Wheat From The Chaff," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 379-396, July.
    11. Paul C. Nutt, 1998. "Framing Strategic Decisions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 195-216, April.
    12. Manuel Becerra & Anil K. Gupta, 2003. "Perceived Trustworthiness Within the Organization: The Moderating Impact of Communication Frequency on Trustor and Trustee Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 32-44, February.
    13. Herminia Ibarra & Martin Kilduff & Wenpin Tsai, 2005. "Zooming In and Out: Connecting Individuals and Collectivities at the Frontiers of Organizational Network Research," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 359-371, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Marquis & Michael W. Toffel & Yanhua Zhou, 2016. "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 483-504, April.
    2. Alexandra Rese & Lars Görmar & Alena Herbig, 2022. "Social networks in coworking spaces and individual coworker’s creativity," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 391-428, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marco Tortoriello & Ray Reagans & Bill McEvily, 2012. "Bridging the Knowledge Gap: The Influence of Strong Ties, Network Cohesion, and Network Range on the Transfer of Knowledge Between Organizational Units," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1024-1039, August.
    2. Roxana Barbulescu, 2015. "The Strength of Many Kinds of Ties: Unpacking the Role of Social Contacts Across Stages of the Job Search Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1040-1058, August.
    3. Jeong-Yeon Lee & Daniel G. Bachrach & Kyle Lewis, 2014. "Social Network Ties, Transactive Memory, and Performance in Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 951-967, June.
    4. Kerr, Jon & Coviello, Nicole, 2020. "Weaving network theory into effectuation: A multi-level reconceptualization of effectual dynamics," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    5. Linda Argote & Ella Miron-Spektor, 2011. "Organizational Learning: From Experience to Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1123-1137, October.
    6. de Oliveira Maciel, Cristiano & Netto, Raul Zanon Rocha, 2020. "Architectural agency in intra-organizational networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 489-497.
    7. Daniel Tzabbar & Alex Vestal, 2015. "Bridging the Social Chasm in Geographically Distributed R&D Teams: The Moderating Effects of Relational Strength and Status Asymmetry on the Novelty of Team Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 811-829, June.
    8. Stephen Frenkel & Karin Sanders & Tim Bednall, 2013. "Employee perceptions of management relations as influences on job satisfaction and quit intentions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 7-29, March.
    9. Rajat Khanna & Isin Guler, 2022. "Degree assortativity in collaboration networks and invention performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1402-1430, July.
    10. Ray Reagans, 2011. "Close Encounters: Analyzing How Social Similarity and Propinquity Contribute to Strong Network Connections," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 835-849, August.
    11. Hanna Lehtimäki & Katja Karintaus, 2012. "Social Capital for Strategic Sensitivity in Global Business," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 1(2), pages 91-104, December.
    12. Jorge Walter & Daniel Z. Levin & J. Keith Murnighan, 2015. "Reconnection Choices: Selecting the Most Valuable (vs. Most Preferred) Dormant Ties," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(5), pages 1447-1465, October.
    13. Marleen McCormick & Stephanie A. Fernhaber, 2018. "Are growth expectations being met? Implications for the internationalization of micro-sized ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 591-605, March.
    14. Mariëtte Kaandorp & Elco van Burg & Tomas Karlsson, 2020. "Initial Networking Processes of Student Entrepreneurs: The Role of Action and Evaluation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 527-556, May.
    15. Justin Tan & Hongjuan Zhang & Liang Wang, 2015. "Network Closure or Structural Hole? The Conditioning Effects of Network–Level Social Capital on Innovation Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(5), pages 1189-1212, September.
    16. Blomberg, Jesper & Werr, Andreas, 2006. "Boundaryless Management - Creating, transforming and using knowledge in inter-organizational collaboration. A literature review," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration 2006:2, Stockholm School of Economics.
    17. Gianluca Carnabuci & Cécile Emery & David Brinberg, 2018. "Emergent Leadership Structures in Informal Groups: A Dynamic, Cognitively Informed Network Model," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 118-133, February.
    18. Brendan Boyle & Stephen Nicholas & Rebecca Mitchell, 2016. "The Value of International Assignees’ Knowledge of Interpersonal Networks: Knowledge of People, Networks and Politics and Knowledge Flows in Multinational Enterprises," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 425-454, June.
    19. Linda Argote & Henrich R. Greve, 2007. "A Behavioral Theory of the Firm ---40 Years and Counting: Introduction and Impact," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(3), pages 337-349, June.
    20. Ambos, Tina C. & Tippmann, Esther & Nell, Phillip C., 2023. "Realizing subsidiary initiatives: A network mobilization view," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:401-419. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.