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The Strength of Performative Ties |
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| The Strength of
Performative Ties documents and explains the surprising pattern
of support and sharing between professionals in a large, global,
professional services firm. Such performative ties allow the
firm to stream its knowledge between individuals and locations,
even when employees do not know each other and do not expect
reciprocity from the receiver. Committee: Dr. Randall Collins,
Dr. Mauro F. Guillén, Dr. Eric von Hippel, Dr. Sidney G. Winter,
Dr. Emilio J. Castilla
Accepted at Academy of Management (AoM), American
Sociological Association (ASA), Organization Science,
International Institute of Sociology, and others. |
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| Revised for journal submission. Funded by
Mack Center for Technological Innovation. |
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What are performative ties? |
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The Antecedents of performative ties |
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Business Implications |
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| Also see: Do Talk to Strangers: Encouraging Performative Ties to
Create Competitive Advantage |
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Cooperation and Clustering in Networks |
with Prof. R. O. Kurzban, University of Pennsylvania
An inherent duality in networks is the tension between
connectivity and clustering: networks enable flows, including
knowledge and practices. However, empirically, networks tend to
be composed of internally homogenous clusters that are loosely
connected. Clustering can be problematic to organizations, as
well as to other collectives, because it hinders flows and
increases isolation. Recently, evolutionary psychologists have
emphasized the principle of positive externalities for
understanding friendship. Using experiments, we show that
individuals prefer dense network to |
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sparse networks, everything else being equal.
We combine evolutionary theory and findings to develop a theory of cascading benefits: we propose that individuals make take advantage of network externalities by belonging to dense clusters, and thus will prefer social ties that are embedded in a dense cluster. We derive testable hypotheses, predicting positive relationships between perceived network embeddedness and variables surrounding social preferences, emotional closeness, and altruistic behavior. We highlight the importance of perception and suggest ways in which the theory can be applied to increase connectedness in organizations.
Accepted at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Academy of Management, American Sociological Association, and International Institute of Sociology conferences. |
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Simulation of Knowledge Exchange |
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with Prof. M. J. Prietula, Emory University
We offer a computational model of knowledge exchange that
weaves together theoretical elements from economics, sociology,
cognitive psychology, and organizational science, as well as two
distinct methodologies – qualitative fieldwork and computational
modeling – to begin explicating the underpinnings of the
knowledge-based view of the firm. We exploring the diffusion
micro-dynamics of knowledge under several scenarios, and
generate hypotheses for subsequent examination.
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| Accepted at Organization Science and International Institute of Sociology conferences |
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| Collective Open Source Innovation |
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In recent years, innovative
products and services have come from new commercial actors:
loosely bounded collectives that meet primarily on-line,
develop, cooperate, and distribute their products and services freely. Their actions, sometimes controversial, have contributed to the spread of open source software, as well as file sharing. Despite the economic importance of the phenomenon there little understanding of the conditions that allow its emergence and maintenance, especially because contributions as voluntary and the goods are freely available to anyone, including free riders. Using a combination of original fieldwork data and analytical simulation, we offer a framework that draws on economic sociology and behavioral economics. |
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| Earlier version published in Best Paper
Proceedings, EICAR, Munich 2001.Accepted at the
Academy of Management, and
American Sociological Association conferences. |
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What is Collective Open Source Innovation? |
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| From a lecture at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne, Switzerland |
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