This book brings a social networks perspective to bear on topics of leadership, decision-making, turnover, organizational crises, organizational culture, and other major organizational behavior topics. It offers a new direction for organizational behavior theory and research by drawing from social network ideas. Across diverse research topics, the authors pursue an integrated focus on social ties both as they are represented in the cognitions of individuals and as they operate as constraints and opportunities in organizational settings. The authors bring their 20 years worth of research experience together to provide a programmatic social network approach to understanding the internal functioning of organizations. By focusing a distinctive research lens on interpersonal networks, they attempt to discover the keys to the whole realm of organizational behavior through the social network approach.

This book brings a social networks perspective to bear on topics of leadership, decision-making, turnover, organizational crises, organizational culture, and other major organizational behavior topics. It offers a new direction for organizational behavior theory and research by drawing from social network ideas. Across diverse research topics, the authors pursue an integrated focus on social ties both as they are represented in the cognitions of individuals and as they operate as constraints and opportunities in organizational settings. The authors bring their 20 years worth of research experience together to provide a programmatic social network approach to understanding the internal functioning of organizations. By focusing a distinctive research lens on interpersonal networks, they attempt to discover the keys to the whole realm of organizational behavior through the social network approach.

Drawing on the wealth of insights into organizational life accumulated over the past few decades, this collection takes stock of the foundations of research in this area, examines the status of the current work and identifies future directions for the field.

Topics covered include theoretical and methodological foundations; social capital; strong ties, weak ties and structural holes; small worlds/network structures; centrality and power; social networks of entrepreneurship; identity, cognition and individual differences in social networks; and network dynamics.

Social Networks and Organizations provides a compact introduction to major concepts in the area of organizational social networks.

The book covers the rudiments of methods, explores major debates, and directs attention to theoretical directions, including a vigorous critique of some taken-for-granted assumptions. The book is aimed at all of those who seek a lucid and lively treatment of social network approaches to organizational research, with a particular emphasis on the neglected area of interpersonal networks in organizations.

In this book, Martin Kilduff and Wenpin Tsai offer new insights to those already familiar with network analysis, and motivate those interested in pursuing network research to embark on journeys of discovery.

`This book is extremely timely. It provides a wonderful synthesis of the recently burgeoning literature in the area of organizations and social networks. It should be relevant at once for both the experienced network scholar as well as those entering this growing area' - Ranjay Gulati, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

`Martin Kilduff and Wenpin Tsai have done a marvellous job of not only reviewing and integrating the diverse streams of literatures on social networks, but also of showing the enormous potential of this research approach that still lies untapped. Overall, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource for interested graduate students as well as for established scholars in the field' - Sumantra Ghoshal, Professor of Strategic and International Management, London Business School

`Research on social networks is already one of the most vibrant areas of organizational inquiry. How can it possibly become any more so? This book by Kilduff and Tsai opens up many new avenues for network research and theory-building. Whether you're newly-interested in social networks or a veteran of the topic, you will benefit from Kilduff and Tsai's marvellous contribution' - Donald C Hambrick, Smeal College of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University