Finding a good job: Academic network centrality and early occupational outcomes in management academia

Abstract

Summary The impact of universalistic versus particularistic criteria on academic hiring has been receiving growing attention in recent years. Yet, most studies conducted on hiring norms in academy and management academy have ignored the impact of social capital, particularly structural social capital, a particularistic attribute, on occupational outcomes. This could lead to a partial if not misleading view of the sociology of hiring in management academy. We utilize a novel approach, focusing on academic departments' structural social capital in the form of network centrality (based on cumulative PhD exchange networks), and explore how this type of centrality impacts job seekers' occupational prestige for new academic jobs in management departments and early career quality publications. We find that although merit‐based criteria such as publications matter somewhat, academic network centrality explains significant variance in obtaining prestigious jobs. Paradoxically, we find that academic network centrality does not explain early career publications. We discuss the implications of our findings for management science. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

When does centrality matter? Scientific productivity and the moderating role of research specialization and cross‐community ties

“…To this end, we use the concept of centrality (Bonacich, 1987;Freeman, 1979). In particular, centrality was found to be strongly associated with the status of the actor (Podolny, 1993), the power exerted by the actor (Brass, 1992;Brass & Burkhardt, 1993), the nature of the innovation process in which the individuals are involved (Ibarra, 1993), the variance in obtaining prestigious jobs (Hadani, Coombes, Das, & Jalajas, 2012) and the actor performance (e.g. Balkundi & Harrison, 2006;Cross & Cummings, 2004;Sparrowe, Liden, Wayne, & Kraimer, 2001).…”

Impact of Network Position and Knowledge Diversity on Knowledge Creation: The Empirical Setting of Research Communities

“…For example, a central position in the network is beneficial to knowledge creation because the actor has contacts likely to result in access to diverse information, which may enhance opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial brokering activity (Flynn & Wiltermuth, 2010;Hadani et al, 2012). Managers need to be aware of the forces that underlie the operation of knowledge networks as they establish positions in a network and consider the distribution of various kinds of knowledge among network actors.…”

“…Notwithstanding between network structure and knowledge creation/creativity (i.e., whether the number of direct contacts one has in a social network is positively associated with knowledge creation up to a certain point-beyond that personal strain is experienced, resulting in negative effects). Finally, our sample was drawn from an academic context, which may provide additional explanations for both network position advantages and knowledge creation outcomes in the social network literature (Bedeian, Cavazos, Hunt & Jauch, 2010;Hadani, Coombes, Das & Jalajas, 2012;Rodan & Galunic, 2004). Finally, our sample was drawn from an academic context, which may provide additional explanations for both network position advantages and knowledge creation outcomes in the social network literature (Bedeian, Cavazos, Hunt & Jauch, 2010;Hadani, Coombes, Das & Jalajas, 2012;Rodan & Galunic, 2004).…”

“…Second, we assessed whether knowledge diversity (Reagans & McEvily, 2003;Rodan & Galunic, 2004) moderates the relationship between network position and the quantity and quality of knowledge created. Finally, our sample was drawn from an academic context, which may provide additional explanations for both network position advantages and knowledge creation outcomes in the social network literature (Bedeian, Cavazos, Hunt & Jauch, 2010;Hadani, Coombes, Das & Jalajas, 2012;Rodan & Galunic, 2004).…”

Collaboration matters: Faculty hiring in information school

“…PhD advisors not only advise students scholarly, but, more importantly, provide social ties that significantly help junior researchers expand their relatively limited networks. In the literature, there is a mixed finding on whether advisor academic reputation helps one's faculty career (Cable & Murray, 1999;Hadani, Coombes, Das, & Jalajas, 2012;Pezzoni, Sterzi, & Lissoni, 2012). Another gap is the lack of investigation on the importance of (weak) collaborative ties that may potentially lead to better job placement (Granovetter, 1973).…”