Böcker i Elements in Organization Theor-serien

This Element synthesizes the current state of research on organizational social networks from its early foundations to contemporary debates. It highlights the characteristics that make the social network perspective distinctive in the organizational research landscape, including its emphasis on structure and outcomes. It covers the main theoretical developments and summarizes the research design questions that organizational researchers face when collecting and analyzing network data. Then, it discusses current debates ranging from agency and structure to network volatility and personality. Finally, the Element envisages future research directions on the role of brokerage for individuals and communities, network cognition, and the importance of past ties. Overall, the Element provides an innovative angle for understanding organizational social networks, engaging in empirical network research, and nurturing further theoretical development on the role of social interactions and connectedness in modern organizations.

This Element presents and discusses the main trajectories in the evolution of the concept of ambiguity and the most relevant theoretical contributions developed around it. It specifically elaborates on both the intrinsic perspectives on ambiguity as an inherent part of organizational decision-making processes and the more recent strategic perspectives on discursively constructed strategic ambiguity. It helps illuminate the path ahead of organizational scholars and offers new avenues for future research. This is important given the ever more pervasive presence of ambiguity in and around organizations and societies.

This Element reinvigorates calls to explore avenues to further integrate the research fields of Organization Theory (OT) and Family Business (FB). It presents the family business literature in management journals and categorizes these papers based on four types of theoretical contribution: Embedded, Integrative, Challenger and Generalized. It discusses opportunities for dialogue between FB and OT for each type in three research domains: (i) managing hybridity, (ii) mastering tensions, dualities, and paradoxes, and (iii) modelling time and temporality.