Individual’s agency in workplace social networks : face-to-face communication behaviours

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the actions undertaken by individuals to activate the organisational structures in which they are embedded. The present study upholds the need to investigate individual’s behaviours within organisations for a deeper understanding of organisational processes micro-foundations. The dissertation blends social network analysis and case study methods, with a private incubator and its 10 start-ups as a research setting. RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) badges were used to capture the ways through which employees mobilise the resources at their disposal within the organisation. The use of RFID technology has enabled the monitoring, with high-resolution, of the effort in terms of face-to-face interaction undertaken by a 91-subject network. Essay I deals with individual ambidexterity showing the presence of 3 individual ambidexterity orientations and their possible combinations at the organisational level. Essay II focuses on the relational styles used by brokers (compared to non-brokers) to activate workplace social networks, both instrumental and affective ones. Findings show that brokers differently engage with their informal workplace social networks depending on the content of the relationship (instrumental vs. affective) in which s/he is embedded. Finally, Essay III analyses the use of “fleeting” face-to-face interactions among employees and the determinants of this communication behaviour, important in activating organisational resources. Results suggest that social, organisational and spatial determinants impact on the frequency of this kind of interactions. More specifically, the presence of organisational similarity seems to play a key role in activating short encounters among colleagues linked by social similarity as well as by the sharing of a working space with specific characteristics of proximity and visibility.