Abstract
To build and maintain a professional work relationship, a manager must
invest resources in the relationship. These resources could be
individual (e.g. personal knowledge and expertise), or they could be
available to the manager via membership in a firm (e.g. the firm's
knowledge and reputation). We propose that the choice of resources
invested in external professional relationships has implications for a
manager's performance; specifically the ability to explore new business
opportunities and exploit existing opportunities. Controlling for the
effect of the structure of managers' networks, we find that managers who
invest individual resources in their external relationships are more
likely to identify new business opportunities whereas managers that
invest firm resources are more likely to implement existing business.
Furthermore, the choice of resources invested - i.e., the content of the
manager's network - moderates the effect of network structure on the
manager's tendency to explore or exploit. Hence, the findings of this
study highlight the critical need to incorporate network content into
theories about the effect of social structure on economic action.
Original language | English |
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Publication date | Aug 2009 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 69th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2009: Green Management Matters - Chicago, United States Duration: 7 Aug 2009 → 11 Aug 2009 Conference number: 69 http://annualmeeting.aomonline.org/2009/ |
Conference
Conference | 69th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2009 |
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Number | 69 |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Chicago |
Period | 07/08/2009 → 11/08/2009 |
Sponsor | European School of Management and Technology, Heller College of Business Administration, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business, Vienna University of Economics and Business |
Internet address |
Keywords
- Exploration-exploitation
- Networks
- Professional service firms