engleski

The influence of managerial social network on managerial success

I designed this study in aim of finding answers to understudied questions in the field of managerial social networks, such as: how relationships in managerial professional networks develop? which tie quality brings ‘better’ outcomes for managers?, or is there a difference between privately and state owned companies when it comes to which networks bring ‘better’ outcomes for managers? In order to provide answers to the proposed questions, this dissertation provides rich data upon which I was able to create arguments on how managers form social networks and what are the created networks’ outcomes. Thus, the purposes of the dissertation are twofold. One purpose of the study is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying managerial social network tie development and change, using a qualitative research approach. Upon gaining better comprehension on how dynamics of social ties in a network play out, the second purpose of the study was to quantitatively investigate how the quality of created ties affects managerial social network outcomes. The dissertation study is placed in the context of Croatian (post) transition economy, characterized with existence of companies with ownership types, from dominantly state- owned to dominantly privately owned. The reason I chose to look at differences in managerial social networks between private and state owned companies lies in the fact that the government has a crucial role on the business of state owned companies in the sense that it appoints all board members. Board members then often replace the managerial staff with affiliates or sympathizers of the newly chosen board. That creates a specific dynamic of relationships in state owned companies and I aimed to understand how that circumstance affects managerial social network structure, quality and development. In the initial, qualitative study, I interviewed managers in companies of diverse ownership structures, from dominantly private to dominantly state-owned, in three different industries in Croatia. In that, I identified stages of the development of the managerial social network. In the sequential, quantitative study, I conducted an egocentric network analysis of managerial professional social networks in three selected industries. I came to the conclusion that there are specific types of network structures prevalent in particular industries across companies of different ownership structures. Further, I determined that value homophily and ties based on cognitive trust significantly predict managerial success. Also, after realizing the differences in male and female network structure and tie quality, I offer arguments into why network outcomes differ across genders. I found that different organizational contexts (conditioned by different ownership structures and different industries) contribute to different structure, quality and dynamics of managerial social networks. Since theoretical and empirical contributions in research of state owned businesses in market economies are rare, examining egocentric managerial networks in the context of a post-socialist economy characterized with multiplicity of ownership structures of companies is one of the most important theoretical and empirical contributions of this study.

Managerial social networks; managerial performance; social network dynamics; social network characteristics; social network structure.

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