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Managerial Networks Analysis

https://www.jstor.org/stable/256742?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

In his research paper “Race, Opportunity, and Diversity of Social Circles in Managerial Networks,” Herminia Ibarra, a professor at Harvard University, analyzed the social networks of white and minority managers in corporations. Both the methodologies and the findings of this study tied closely to the networks and graph theory we discussed in class. This paper also expanded my understanding of networks by analyzing some characteristics of ties that were not covered in class.

 

For the study, Ibarra surveyed 63 middle-level managers with racial diversity on their informal networks. Participants were asked to list people to whom they would go for information, advice, friendship, and career support. Then, the researchers interviewed them to qualitatively understand their preferences of personal networks. With the data collected, the researchers analyzed the networks of each manager based on four characteristics: status of contact (whether the network contacts are superior, peer or subordinate), intimacy (tie strength broken down into four categories: “very close,” “close,” “less than close,” or “distant”), multiplexity (the degree of overlap between any two lists) and homophily (the proportion of same-race contacts).

 

While we didn’t cover multiplexity in class, this concept is related to the Triadic Closure principle. Triadic Closure principle indicates that two people are more likely to become friends if they have friends in common. This network principle partially explains why participants are likely to have overlaps between their connection lists. The concept of homophily was another new yet critical factor in the analysis. For the homophily dimension, the researchers grouped ties based on whether they are same-race or different-race contacts which in the end yielded important findings. This was a great research design and revealed some innovative information we can gather when analyzing networks.

 

With every person being a node, and their interpersonal relationship being the edges in this study, the researchers were able to understand the scope and many characteristics of networks. They found that high-potential minority managers often had more racially heterogeneous and fewer intimate network relationships. They often acted similar to a bridge (removing them would very likely disconnect two groups) between different racial groups which granted them access to more information.

 

This paper provided some critical insights into the information we can extract from networks and how they can advance our understanding of social and communication issues. It serves as a great example of network analysis.

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