So Many Ties , So Little Time : A Task Contingency Perspective on The Value of Social Capital in Organizations

We used data from 67 new product development teams to test a task contingency perspective on social network structure in organizations. Results showed that exploratory teams completed their projects more quickly if they had a social network structure composed of many strong external ties that were nonredundant. In contrast, teams pursuing tasks that exploited existing expertise took longer to complete if they had this type of social network structure, mainly because external ties had to be maintained but were not much needed for the task. The network position that was most beneficial for exploration tasks was a liability for exploitation tasks. We propose that organization network theories of tie strength and structural holes need to be broadened to reflect the effects of task differences, network costs, and difficulties in getting others to help.

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