Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September–October 2013
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Discretion Within Constraint: Homophily and Structure in a Formal Organization

By: Adam M. Kleinbaum, Toby E. Stuart and Michael Tushman
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Homophily in social relations results from both individual preferences and selective opportunities for interaction, but how these two mechanisms interact in large, contemporary organizations is not well understood. We argue that organizational structures and geography delimit opportunities for interaction such that actors have a greater level of discretion to choose their interaction partners within business units, job functions, offices, and quasi-formal structures. This leads us to expect to find a higher proportion of homophilous interactions within these organizational structures than across their boundaries. We test our theory in an analysis of the rate of dyadic communication in an e-mail data set comprising thousands of employees in a large information technology firm. These findings have implications for research on homophily, gender relations in organizations, and formal and informal organizational structure.

Keywords

Familiarity; Interpersonal Communication; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Social and Collaborative Networks; Gender; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Kleinbaum, Adam M., Toby E. Stuart, and Michael Tushman. "Discretion Within Constraint: Homophily and Structure in a Formal Organization." Organization Science 24, no. 5 (September–October 2013): 1316–1336.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Michael L. Tushman

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition

    By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman
    • October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress

    By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game

    By: Andrew Binns, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael Tushman
More from the Authors
  • Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman
  • Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman
  • Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game By: Andrew Binns, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael Tushman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College