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A Network Perspective on the Processes of Empowered Organizations
Author(s) -
Neal Zachary P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/s10464-013-9623-1
Subject(s) - nomological network , empowerment , centrality , knowledge management , context (archaeology) , perspective (graphical) , organizational effectiveness , business , public relations , service (business) , sociology , political science , computer science , marketing , paleontology , mathematics , combinatorics , artificial intelligence , law , biology
Organizational empowerment is a multi‐faceted concept that involves processes occurring both within and between organizations that facilitate achievement of their goals. This paper takes a closer look at three interorganizational processes that lead to empowered organizations: building alliances, getting the word out, and capturing others’ attention. These processes are located within the broader nomological network of empowerment and organizational empowerment, and are linked to particular patterns of interorganizational relationships that facilitate organizations’ ability to engage in them. A new network‐based measure, γ‐centrality, is introduced to capture the particular network structure associated with each process to be assessed. It is demonstrated first in a hypothetical organizational network, then applied to take a closer look at organizational empowerment in the context of a coordinating council composed of human service agencies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of relationships between these processes, and the potential for unintended consequences in the empowerment of organizations.