“…6 Union strategy is often contrasted with "disunion strategy" (also called tertius gaudens, a "third rejoicing" from the Latin verb gaudere, to be glad or to rejoice) whereby a broker manufactures, maintains, or exploits a disconnect, conflict, or competition between two parties with the intention of extracting personal benefits (i.e., information advantage, profit, control, power, dependency) (Simmel, 1950;see Burt, 1992: 30-32, for review). 7 The relative benefits of simultaneously occupying positions of closure and brokerage versus brokerage only has been a major focus in recent research (See Fleming et al, 2007;Fleming & Waguespack, 2007;Reagans & McEvily, 2008). 8 The distinction between structural and cultural holes is akin to the one made in the knowledge and innovation literature between the social network of collaborations between researchers and the knowledge network composed of linkages between knowledge elements.…”