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Article
The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology
Journal of Management (2003)
  • Stephen P. Borgatti, Boston College
  • Pacey C. Foster, Boston College
Abstract
In this paper, we review and analyze the emerging network paradigm in organizational research. We begin with a conventional review of recent research organized around recognized research streams. Next, we analyze this research, developing a set of dimensions along which network studies vary, including direction of causality, levels of analysis, explanatory goals, and explanatory mechanisms. We use the latter two dimensions to construct a 2-by-2 table cross-classifying studies of network consequences into four canonical types: structural social capital, social access to resources, contagion, and environmental shaping. We note the rise in popularity of studies with a greater sense of agency than was traditional in network research.
Publication Date
December, 2003
Citation Information
Stephen P. Borgatti and Pacey C. Foster. "The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology" Journal of Management Vol. 29 Iss. 6 (2003)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/pacey_foster/4/