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Network Updating and Exploratory Learning Environment*
Author(s) -
Rhee Mooweon
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00461.x
Subject(s) - social capital , corporation , task (project management) , relevance (law) , exploratory research , sample (material) , social network (sociolinguistics) , knowledge management , value (mathematics) , computer science , business , sociology , economics , management , social media , political science , machine learning , world wide web , anthropology , law , social science , chemistry , finance , chromatography
abstract This paper examines how the current relevance of social capital derived from a task‐advice network affects an actor's exploratory learning environment. Building on Burt's (1992) structural holes hypothesis that a large, sparse task advice network enhances an actor's exploratory learning environment, I propose that such effects hold only when the direct and indirect network ties are composed of current network contacts (ones that have been updated since the last change in positions of an actor). Analyses of data from a sample of 230 salaried employees of a high‐technology manufacturing corporation support my arguments. In addition to the focus of social capital research on network structure, therefore, this study emphasizes the time‐contingent value of social capital.