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Abstract

Network analysis allows researchers to study patterns of roles or social relationships within organizations, and is especially usefulfor examining the impacts of informal systems on organizational socialization. This article presents a study of the level of connections within networks based on information flow, affect, influence, and the exchange of goods or services. Controlling for belief system, congregation size, and size of community, researchers selected 44 protestant churches for the sample and administered questionnaires randomly to congregation members. Researchers used the resulting data to analyze the effects of the four types of networks on knowledge, desire for growth, personal development, attendance rates, and outreach. The findings indicate that informal systems greatly affect socialization, especially when network connections are based on information flow. The authors conclude that further research should address additional network characteristics that may influence organizational socialization, should employ network analysis at the micro level, and should examine the actual process or organizational socialization.

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The Impact of Emergent Network Structure on Organizational Socialization

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