Chinese Journal of Sociology

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A Comparative Study of the Effects of Employees’ Social Network Structural Characteristics on Their Contextual Performance: A Case Analysis Based on Two Research & Development Divisions of Chinese and Foreign Corporations

Author: Peng Jianping,School of Business, Sun YatSen University)Email:   

  1. Author: Peng Jianping,School of Business, Sun YatSen University
  • Online:2011-07-20 Published:2011-07-20
  • Contact: Author: Peng Jianping,School of Business, Sun YatSen University E-mail:mnspjp@mail.sysu.edu.cn
  • About author:Author: Peng Jianping,School of Business, Sun YatSen University
  • Supported by:

    The Project was Supported by Social Sciences Research Fund Projects of Ministry of Education(10YJA630124).

Abstract:

The sample of this study included two Research & Development divisions of Chinese and foreign corporations. Based on theories and literature review, the employees’ social networks in different contexts were identified and the values of individuals’ relational characteristics in their varying networks were calculated. The employees’ network location was found to have a significant impact on their contextual performance. The network structural characteristics of the employees in the state corporation differed from those of the employees in the foreign corporation and also, in their effects on the employees’ contextual performance. These findings may serve as theoretical support for bettering employees’ contextual performance through improving their social networks and may also enrich the practice and application of the embeddedness theory in Chinese companies.

Key words: network centrality, contextual performance, social network