Network Responsiveness: The Social Structural Microfoundations of Dynamic Capabilities

Forthcoming in Academy of Management Perspectives

38 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2013 Last revised: 9 Oct 2014

See all articles by Adam M. Kleinbaum

Adam M. Kleinbaum

Tuck School of Business; Dartmouth College

Toby Stuart

Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit; University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business

Date Written: October 8, 2014

Abstract

Intraorganizational social networks are known to be important antecedents to individual career attainment, but research examining their influence on firm-level performance has been limited. We argue that the intrafirm network is likely to affect two firm-level outcomes: coordination and adaptability. Prior research has shown formal structure to be a useful tool for reshaping organizational networks, but we argue that firms vary in their rates of network responsiveness. When formal organizational structure is changed, as in a reorganization, or when targeted individuals undertake job changes, some firms will experience a rapid reshaping of their networks; in other firms, the network will respond more slowly to the new formal structure. We posit that slow network responsiveness may provide coordination advantages via compensatory fit, whereas fast network responsiveness may facilitate more rapid adaptability. As such, a firm’s rate of network responsiveness is a heretofore unexplored source of dynamic capabilities. We illustrate these ideas using case data and empirical examples. We view network responsiveness as a useful means through which the internal network structure of a firm drives ambidexterity, dynamic capabilities, and firm performance.

Keywords: social networks, organizational structure, dynamic capabilities, firm performance

Suggested Citation

Kleinbaum, Adam M. and Stuart, Toby E. and Stuart, Toby E., Network Responsiveness: The Social Structural Microfoundations of Dynamic Capabilities (October 8, 2014). Forthcoming in Academy of Management Perspectives, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2305301 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2305301

Adam M. Kleinbaum (Contact Author)

Tuck School of Business ( email )

Hanover, NH
United States

HOME PAGE: http://bit.ly/kleinbaum

Dartmouth College ( email )

Hanover, NH 03755
United States

Toby E. Stuart

Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit ( email )

Cambridge, MA 02163
United States

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business ( email )

545 Student Services Building, #1900
2220 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

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