Structural properties of work groups and their consequences for performance

Over the past several decades, social network research has favored either ego-centric (e.g. employee) or bounded networks (e.g. organization) as the primary unit of analysis. This paper revitalizes a focus on the work group, which includes structural properties of both its individual members and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social networks 2003-07, Vol.25 (3), p.197-210
Main Authors: Cummings, Jonathon N., Cross, Rob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Communication networks
Core-periphery
Hierarchy
Leaders
Network analysis
Networks
Organizational behaviour
Social interaction
Social networks
Sociology
Sociology of organizations and enterprises. Bureaucracy and administration
Sociology of work and sociology of organizations
Structural holes
Team performance
Work groups
Work place
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Summary:Over the past several decades, social network research has favored either ego-centric (e.g. employee) or bounded networks (e.g. organization) as the primary unit of analysis. This paper revitalizes a focus on the work group, which includes structural properties of both its individual members and the collection as a whole. In a study of 182 work groups in a global organization, we found that structural holes of leaders within groups as well as core-periphery and hierarchical group structures were negatively associated with performance. We show that these effects hold even after controlling for mean levels of group communication, and discuss implications for the future of network analysis in work groups and informal organizations.
ISSN:0378-8733
1879-2111
DOI:10.1016/S0378-8733(02)00049-7