ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how network structures and processes occurring inside organizations affect both individuals and their organizations. It describes four new forms of networked or ganizations—the internal network, the multinational differentiated network, the virtual organization, and the spherically structured network firm—that give employees numerous opportunities to activate their interpersonal connections in the competition for career gains. The chapter discusses the flexible internal structures of the networked organization may constrain networking processes and their consequences in ways to be explained theoretically demonstrated empirically. Investigators of real managers' routines found that networking was their predominant behavior, accounting for nearly half of the most successful managers' activities. The dynamics of social capital formation may parallel other forms of capital growth, with initial investments in riskier relations subsequently paying higher returns to the investors. Conventional approaches to human resource management investigate the effects of personal attributes and job characteristics without considering how network ties among employees shape their work attitudes and behaviours.
