To bridge or to bond? Diverse social connections in an IS project team

Reversing the Instrumentality of the Social for the Economic: A Critical Agenda for Twenty-first Century Knowledge Networks

“…Whether using Karl Polanyi's ( 1958Polanyi's ( , 1966 simple dichotomy of coded and tacit knowledge or more elaborated versions, there seems to be a consensus that a certain type of knowledge, relational knowledge, labeled "tacit" knowledge in Polanyi's conceptualization or encultured and embedded knowledges in Blackler's ( 1995 ) scheme, is less open to activity spread across space (e.g., Bathelt et al, 2004 ;Faulconbridge, 2006 ;Jones, 2007 ). People are reluctant to share their knowledges without having established familiarity (Han & Hovav, 2013 ). This may seem like a déjà vu-that research on networks and knowledge exchange is back to the original problem of necessitating face-to-face interaction, thereby limiting opportunities across space.…”

“…Interestingly, the competitive practice of bridging relations between actors in different networks has been shown to depend on bonding relations within networks (Kraut, Steinfeield, Chan, Butler, & Hoag, 1999 ;Han & Hovav, 2013 ). Accordingly, management techniques such as brainstorming and focus groups have been recommended at the outset of a project to cultivate bonding and anchor effective social relations that can evolve outside conditions of initial spatial proximity (Han & Hovav, 2013 ).…”

“…Interestingly, the competitive practice of bridging relations between actors in different networks has been shown to depend on bonding relations within networks (Kraut, Steinfeield, Chan, Butler, & Hoag, 1999 ;Han & Hovav, 2013 ). Accordingly, management techniques such as brainstorming and focus groups have been recommended at the outset of a project to cultivate bonding and anchor effective social relations that can evolve outside conditions of initial spatial proximity (Han & Hovav, 2013 ). Actually, the nature of the "location" of actors itself is fl uid, if we consider cases of temporary spatial proximity owing to the mobility of many professionals (Almeida & Kogut, 1999 ;Torre & Rallet, 2005 ;Williams, 2006 ), and possibilities for the construction of temporary spatial clusters of innovation (e.g., Maskell, Bathelt, & Malmberg, 2006 ).…”

“…Knowledge is subjective, and thus personal experience and relational capital (Kale, Singh, & Perlmutter, 2000 ) are pivotal resources at the outset of any project (Nonaka, 1994 ;Nonaka & Konno, 1998 ). Unsurprisingly, then, research on suites of ICTs for e-collaboration has suggested that asynchronous communication (e.g., discussion boards, e-mail, blogs, audio or video streaming, databases, or document libraries) are more appropriate at a later stage in a project, after actors' relations become anchored in early synchronous communication (e.g., through video, and audio conferencing, electronic chatting, or instant messaging) (Han & Hovav, 2013 ). This technosocial framework is consistent with research that advocates beginning project work with focus groups and brainstorming sessions, focusing on other types of communication later in the evolution of a project (Kraut et al, 1999 ).…”

“…Thinking about difference entails more than adding Others to existing groups of workers; rather, it requires altering strategies that might otherwise be developed. For example, whereas there seems to be a consensus from e-collaboration and general management and organization studies that techniques for social bonding and building social awareness should be developed at the start of a project, whether in virtual or physical face-to-face settings (Han & Hovav, 2013 ;Kraut et al, 1999 ), difference might be served best differently. Research on heterogeneous groups recognizes that although diversity is seen instrumentally as productive due to a multiplicity of knowledges and perspectives (Shachaf, 2007 ), people nonetheless prefer to work and interact with those most similar to themselves, and moreover, are reluctant to share their knowledges with Others (Brown et al, 2012 ) in the context of prevailing preconceived views and derogatory stereotypes (Brown et al, 2012 ;Giambatista & Bhappu, 2010 ).…”