Individual Adaptation to IT-Induced Change: The Role of Social Networks

In order to better understand the sociopsychological factors involved in employees' adaptation to new technology in organizations, we examine the role that two types of social networks—supportive and informational—play in individual adaptation to IT-induced change in a large financial company. Using survey data from 371 employees working in 133 different branches of the organization, we find that several aspects of the social networks relate to quality of employees' adaptation to the new technology as assessed by the company's departmental directors. Specifically, the size of the support network as well as the strength and density of the information network significantly predict employees' adaptation to the new system. We conclude the paper by discussing theoretical implications for the relevance of social network research for members' adaptation to organizational changes as well as outlining specific implications for practice.