Description
Book SynopsisSocial Capital, the advantage created by location in social structure, is a critical element in business strategy. Who has it, how it works, and how to develop it have become key questions as markets, organizations, and careers become more and more dependent on informal, discretionary relationships. The formal organization deals with accountability; Everything else flows through the informal: advice, coordination, cooperation friendship, gossip, knowledge, trust. Informal relations have always been with us, they have always mattered. What is new is the range of activities in which they now matter, and the emerging clarity we have about how they create advantage for certain people at the expense of others. This is done by brokerage and closure. Ronald S. Burt builds upon his celebrated work in this area to explore the nature of brokerage and closure. Brokerage is the activity of people who live at the intersection of social worlds, who have a vision advantage of seeing and developing go
Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Burt is among the best social network writers in articulating ideas from a research tradition that is notoriously difficult to put into words. Brokerage and Closure is the next step in research on social capital. * AMR, Management Rreview *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Social Capital of Structural Holes ; 2. Creativity and Learning ; 3. Closure, Trust, and Reputation ; 4. Closure, Echo, and Rigidity ; 5. Images of Equilibrium