Sameer Srivastava, Organizational Behavior PhD
Thesis Co-chairs: Toby Stuart and Peter V. Marsden
Hunkering Down and Venturing Out: Social Capital Activation during Uncertain Times in Organizational Life
This dissertation is a multi-method study of social capital activation - the choice to initiate contact with certain individuals among the set of available actors - during uncertain times in organizational life (e.g., periods of restructuring, merger, or senior leadership transition). Uncertain times are often accompanied by significant shifts in resources and power; network activation choices in these periods can therefore have significant consequences for individual attainment and organizational performance. Drawing on the insight that people often activate only a subset of the ties to which they have access, this dissertation tackles an important conceptual puzzle about network activation under conditions of uncertainty. One perspective predicts that people will hunker down (i.e., decrease network size and range) when faced with uncertainty, while another suggests they will venture out (i.e., increase network size and range).
The dissertation, which encompasses three empirical chapters, provides conceptual clarity on different aspects of this puzzle. It draws on unique data from different settings - an information services provider; a non-profit health care organization; and a software development lab based in Beijing, China - and employs a variety of research methods (e.g., large panel data sets, qualitative interviews, experimental studies conducted with samples of working professionals, and longitudinal field experiments) to identify the causal effects of uncertainty on network activation. These studies contribute to our understanding of: (1) the dynamics of formal and informal structure during organizational change; (2) the formation and activation of social capital in organizations; (3) the interrelationships among culture, cognition, and social structure; and (4) sex differences in workplace networks. These insights also have implications for managerial practice - e.g., helping organizational leaders design change initiatives that better account for individual responses to uncertainty and formulate programs that enable employees to build organizational social capital.
