RELATIONAL AND STRUCTURAL NETWORK CORRELATES OF INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE WORK.

Abstract

This article argues that individual performance in knowledge intensive work is impacted by both relational and structural network characteristics. Egocentric and bounded network data from 101 engineers within a petrochemical company and 125 consultants within a strategy-consulting firm support the contention that both relational and structural network characteristics matter for individual performance in knowledge intensive work. Implications for a relational view of social capital as well as the integration of information processing and social network literatures are discussed. It is found that characteristics of relationships in networks are correlates of performance in models that control for structure. In this sense, not all relationships are equal--who one is connected to can matter for performance beyond a given relationship's contribution to network structure. Second, it is found that position in both information and awareness networks are uniquely predictive of individual performance. While position in an information network might allow one to learn of opportunities early, position in an awareness network might allow one to take action on opportunities by leveraging others' expertise.