Motivations to Maintain Social Ties With Coworkers

Abstract

This study examines the relationships among an individual's motivations to maintain social ties with coworkers, information exchange with others outside the firm, and turnover intentions. The authors considered both relationship motivation to maintain friendships at work and job facilitation motivation to maintain workplace relationships that facilitate an individual's job performance. Results suggest that both types of motivation are related to workplace social inclusion, a concept that has been based in part on the social capital literature. The authors also find that individuals with job facilitation motivation for maintaining social ties with coworkers engage in more interorganizational information exchange than do those with relationship motivation. When individuals have turnover intentions, the relationship between job facilitation motivation and interorganizational information exchange is stronger.

Keywords

social relations information exchange turnover intentions;motivation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler, P.S. , & Kwon, S. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept . Academy of Management Review, 27, 17-40 .

Aiken, L.S. , & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .

Allen, T.J. , Tushman, M.L. , & Lee, D.M.S. (1979). Technology transfer as a function of position in the spectrum from research through development to technology services . Academy of Management Journal, 22, 694-708 .

Anand, V. , Glick, W.H. , & Manz, C.C. (2002). Thriving on the knowledge of outsiders: Tapping organizational social capital . Academy of Management Executive , 16, 87-101 .

Bem, D.J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1-62). New York: Academic Press .

Bouty, I. (2000). Interpersonal and interaction influences on informal resource exchanges between R&D researchers across organizational boundaries . Academy of Management Journal, 43, 50-65 .

Bretz, R.D. , & Boudreau, J.W. , & Judge, T.A. (1994). Job search behavior of employed managers . Personnel Psychology, 47, 275-301 .

Brockner, J. , Grover, S. , Reed, T. , & DeWitt, R. L. (1992). Layoffs, job insecurity, and survivors' work effort: Evidence of an inverted-U relationship . Academy of Management Journal, 35, 413-425 .

Brown, J.S. , & Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation . Organization Science, 2(1), 40-57 .

10.

Bruning, J.L. , & Kintz, B.L. (1968). Computational handbook of statistics. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman .

11.

Burt, R.S. (1992). Structural holes: The social structure of competition . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .

12.

Burt, R.S. (2000). The network structure of social capital . Research in Organizational Behavior, 22, 345-423 .

13.

Campion, M.A. (1991). The meaning and measurement of turnover: A comparison of alternative measures and recommendations . Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 199-212 . Coff, R. , & Blyler, M. (2003). Dynamic capabilities, social capital and rent appropriation: Ties that split pies . Strategic Management Journal, 24, 677-686 .

14.

Cohen, J. , & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .

15.

Dalton, D.R. , & Todor, W.D. (1982). Turnover: A lucrative hard dollar phenomenon . Academy of Management Journal, 7, 212-218 .

16.

Gargiulo, M. , & Benassi, M. (1999). The dark side of social capital. In R. T. Leenders & S. M. Gabbay (Eds.), Corporate social capital and liability (pp. 298-322). Boston: Kluwer .

17.

Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties . American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-1380 .

18.

Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure . American Journal of Sociology, 91, 481-510 .

19.

Gulati, R. (1995). Does familiarity breed trust? The implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances . Academy of Management Journal, 38, 85-112 .

20.

Hansen, M.T. (1999). The search-transfer problem: The role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits . Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1), 82-111 .

21.

Hansen, M.T. , Poldolny, J.M. , & Pfeffer, J. (2000). So many ties, so little time: A task contingency perspective on the value of social capital in organizations (Working paper 00-029). Boston: Harvard Business School .

22.

Hom, P. , & Griffeth, R. (1991). A structural equations modeling test of a turnover theory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis . Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 350-366 .

23.

Ibrahim, A.M. (2001). Differential responding to positive and negative items: The case of a negative item in a questionnaire for course and faculty evaluation . Psychological Reports, 88, 497-500 .

24.

Jackofsky, E.F. , Ferris, K.R. , & Breckenridge, B.G. (1986). Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between job performance and turnover . Journal of Management, 12, 105-111 .

25.

Koka, B.R. , & Prescott, J.E. (2002). Strategic alliances as social capital: A multidimensional view . Strategic Management Journal, 23, 795-816 .

26.

Konrad, A.M. , Ritchie, J.E. , Jr., Lieb, P. , & Corrigall, E. (2000). Sex differences and similarities in job attitude preferences: A meta-analysis . Psychological Bulletin, 126, 593-641 .

27.

Lankau, M.J. , & Scandura, T.A. (2002). An investigation of personal learning in mentoring relationships: Content, antecedents, and consequences . Academy of Management Journal, 45, 779-790 .

28.

Leana, C.R. , & Van Buren, H.J. (1999). Organizational social capital and employment practices . Academy of Management Review, 24, 538-555 .

29.

Lin, N. ( 1999). Building a network theory of social capital . Connections, 22(1), 28-51 .

30.

Maertz, C.P. , & Campion, M.A. (1998). 25 years of voluntary turnover research: A review and critique . International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 13, 49-81 .

31.

Mehra, A. , Kilduff, M. , & Brass, D.J. (2001). The social networks of high and low self- monitors: Implications for workplace performance . Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 121-146 .

32.

Mishra, A.K. , & Spreitzer, G.M. (1998). Explaining how survivors respond to downsizing: The role of trust, empowerment, justice, and work redesign . Academy of Management Review, 23, 567-588 .

33.

Motl, R.W. , & DiStefano, C. (2002). Longitudinal invariance of self-esteem and method effects associated with negatively worded items . Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 562-578 .

34.

Nahapiet, J. , & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage . Academy of Management Review, 23, 242-266 .

35.

Oh, H. , Kilduff, M. , & Brass, D.J. (1999, August). Communal social capital, linking social capital, and economic outcomes . Paper presented at the Academy of Management Meetings, Chicago.

36.

Pearce, J.L. , & Randel, A.E. (2004). Expectations of organizational mobility, workplace social inclusion and employee job performance . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(1), 81-98 .

37.

Pennings, J.M. , Lee, K. , & vanWitteloostuijn, A. (1998). Human capital, social capital, and firm dissolution . Academy of Management Journal , 41, 425-440 .

38.

Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive advantage through people. Boston: Harvard Business School Press .

39.

Podolny, J.M. , & Baron, J.N. (1997). Relationships and resources: Social networks and mobility in the workplace . American Sociological Review, 62, 673-693 .

40.

Podsakoff, P.M. , MacKenzie, S.B. , Paine, J.B. , & Bachrach, D.G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research . Journal of Management, 26, 513-563 .

41.

Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology . Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1-24 .

42.

Prusak, L. , & Cohen, D. (2001). How to invest in social capital . Harvard Business Review, 79(6), 86-93 .

43.

Putnam, R.D. (1993). Making democracy work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .

44.

Rynes, S.L. (1991). Recruitment, job choice, and post-hire consequences: A call for new research directions. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 399-444). Chicago: Rand McNally .

45.

Sosik, J.J. , & Godshalk, V.M. (2000). Leadership styles, mentoring functions received, and job-related stress: A conceptual model and preliminary study . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 365-390 .

46.

Steensma, H.K. , & Lyles, M.A. (2000). Explaining IJV survival in a transitional economy through social exchange and knowledge-based perspectives . Strategic Management Journal, 21, 831-851 .

47.

Tsai, W. (2000). Social capital, strategic relatedness, and the formation of intraorganizational linkages . Strategic Management Journal, 21, 925-939 .

48.

Tsai, W. , & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital and value creation: The role of intrafirm networks . Academy of Management Journal, 41, 464-476 .

49.

Tsui, A.S. , Egan, T.D. , & O'Reilly, C.A. , III. (1992). Being different: Relational demography and organizational attachment . Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 549-579 .

50.

Tsui, A.S. , Pearce, J.L. , Porter, L.W. , & Tripoli, A.M. (1997). Alternative approaches to the employee-organization relationship: Does investment in employees pay off? Academy of Management Journal, 40, 1089-1121 .