The Focused Organization of Advice Relations: A Study in Boundary Crossing

Abstract

Organizations contain multiple social foci-settings for interaction providing members with occasions for structuring their social relations. In this paper we examine how identification with particular social foci within organizations influences the propensity of advice-seeking ties to crosscut the boundaries of organizational subunits. We propose and test a theory of relationship formation based on the strength of organizational members' identification with social foci. We expect that advice relations of organizational members identifying more strongly with local foci (organizational subunits) will be more likely to be contained within their boundaries. By contrast, we expect that advice rel..