IT IS A SMALL WORLD AND IT IS ONLY GETTING SMALLER: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL NETWORK CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOMES WHILE ACCOUNTING FOR THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIATORS AND MODERATORS

Abstract

In this manuscript I examine outcomes associated with social networks in organizations. Specifically, I consider how two characteristics of social networks (i.e., centrality, tie strength) can affect the performance and satisfaction of employees at work. Then, I explore the role that perceptions of fit (i.e., person-group fit, person-organization) may play in mediating the relationship between social network characteristics and (a) employee performance and (b) job satisfaction. Moreover, I investigate boundary conditions of the aforementioned mediated relationships (i.e., social network characteristics - fit perceptions - employee performance; social network characteristics - fit perceptions - job satisfaction). First, I consider how individual differences (i.e., racioethnicity, sex) generate employee dissimilarity that likely moderates the relationship between structural network characteristics and perceived fit in the mediated relationships proposed. Second, I examine an organizational variable (i.e., perceived diversity climate) as a first and second stage moderator of the aforementioned mediated relationships. Overall, it is necessary to investigate the relationships proposed in the model, because studying social networks helps us to understand why employees interact with certain individuals (or not with others) and how organizational outcomes are affected by employees' choices regarding their social networks.