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DoesNetworkingwithColleaguesMatterinEnhancingJobPerformance?IreneHau-siuChowDepartmentofManagementTheChineseUniversityofHongKongShatin,N.T.HongKongTel:(852)2609-7798Fax:[phone]Email:[e-mail]&IgnaceNgFacultyofBusinessUniversityofVictoria.POBox1700,StnCSCVictoria,BCCanadaV8W2Y22DoesNetworkingwithColleaguesMatterinEnhancingJobPerformance?Thepersonalnetworksofmanagershavereceivedwidespreadattentioninthemanagementliteratureinrecentyearsbecausethesenetworksrepresentaformofsocialcapitalforachievingvariousgoalsineconomicandsociallife(Lin,2001).Havinganextensivenetworkisakeyelementtocareersuccess(Seibertetal.,2001).Otheradvantagesofhavinganextensivenetworkincludereceivingjoboffers(Granovetter,1995;Mouw,2002),gainingaccesstodecisionsinhigherauthority(Podolmy&Byron,1997),upwardmobility,andinformationexchange(Brass,1985).Intheentrepreneurshipliterature,thepersonalnetworkoftheentrepreneurisviewedasthemostimportantresourceoftheorganization(Johannisson,1990)asitisthroughthisnetworkthatthefirmacquiresthenecessaryscarceresourcesforitsgrowthandsurvival.TheabovebenefitsofpersonalnetworksarebynomeanslimitedtotheWesternworld.InChinaandotherAsiansocieties,thesepersonalnetworksintheformofguanxirelationshipsalsoplayacriticalroleinthesuccessofindividualsandfirms.WhilethereexistimportantdifferencesbetweenguanxirelationshipsandWesterntypepersonalrelationships(Farhetal.,1998),theyarealsosimilarinthatbothguanxiresearchandpersonalnetworkresearchtreattheirrespectiverelationshipsasasourceofsustainablecompetitiveadvantage(Tsang,1998;OstgaardandBirley,1994).ConsistentwiththefindingsoftheirWesterncounterpart,guanxistudieshavedemonstratedthatpersonalrelationshipshavehelpedfirmsoperatinginChinaachievegreatersuccess(AbramsonandAi,1999;Luo,1997).Inspiteoftheseadvancesontheorganizational3impactofAsianpersonalnetworks,however,verylittleisknownastohowthesenetworksaffecttheindividualnetwork-holder(or‘ego’).AnexceptionhereisthestudybyBian(1997)whofoundthatindividualsinurbanChinadobenefitfromtheirpersonalnetworkswhenjobhunting.Thestudyalsodemonstratedthatthecompositionofone’snetwork,asmeasuredbystrongandweaktiesinthiscase,hasdifferentialimpactsonthekindofjobsthattheegogets.Whatremainsuntested,however,istheextenttowhichthisparticular,andothernetworkcharacteristicsaffecttheChinesejobholder.Therearemanywaysinwhichindividualpersonalnetworksdifferfromeachother.Networkcompositionshavebeenconceptualizedinmanyways,varyingintermsofsize,gendercomposition,densityandotherdifferentiatingnetworkcharacteristics.SinceGranovetter’s1973seminalworkonstrongandweakties,thestrengthofnetworktiesisonenetworkcharacteristicthathasreceivedconsiderableattentionintheliterature(Granovetter,1995;Bian,1997).Whetherweaktiesaremoreimportantthanstrongtiesdependsonthenatureofinformationsharedbetweenthenetworkassociates(Bian,1997;Hansen,1999).Networkcentralityhasalsobeenthesubjectofseveralstudiesandtheevidenceshowsthatcentralityaffectspower(Brass,1984),decisionmaking(Friedkin,1993),andinnovation(Ibarra,1993).Othernetworkcharacteristics,however,havebeensubjecttolessscrutiny.Crossetal.(2002),forexample,arguedthategoswhosenetworkconsistsofindividualsexternaltotheorganization(boundaryspanningtypenetwork)arelesslikelytoberecognizedandrewardedbytheirorganizations.Thislackofrecognitionshouldinturnleadtolowerperceivedjobperformance.Ontheotherhand,aboundary-spanningtypenetworkismorelikelytogeneratediverse4informationandsimilartothestrengthofweaktiesargument,thisshouldleadtohigherjobperformance.Whetherthereisempiricalsupportforthislineofreasoning,however,remainstobeseen.Similarly,whileitseemslogicalthatanetworkofhigherrankedcolleaguesshouldbeofgreatervaluetotheegothananetworkoflowerrankedcolleagues,wearenotawareofanyresearchthathastestedthisproposition.Thus,anobjectiveofthisstudyistoexaminehowthesenetworkcharacteristicsaffecttheperceivedjobperformanceofChinesemanagers.Tothisend,weproposeamodeldrawnfrompaststudiesofnetworkoutcomesinwhichjobperformanceisaffectedbythosenetworkcharacteristicsaffectinginformationaccessibilityanddiversity.Researchersingenderdifferencesinpersonalnetworkshaveshownthatthesedifferencesremainevenaftercontrollingforstructuralfactors(Moore,1990).Othershavenotedthatforsimilarlyrankedindividuals,maleshavebeenmoreabletoconverttheirpositionalauthorityintogreaternetworkaccessthantheirfemalecounterparts(Ibarra,1992).Theconsensusinthenetworkliterature,therefore,isthatmalesandfemalesdifferintermsofboththeirnetworkcompositionandnetworkaccess.Whetherthebenefitsofpersonalnetwork,ifany,varybetweenmalesandfemaleshasyettobeascertained.Inaddition,tothebestofourknowledge,wearenotawareofanyresearchthathasexaminedwhetherdifferencesinnetworkingbenefitsareaffectedbytherankof,andjobtypeheldby,theego.Thus,asecondobjectiveofthisstudyistoinvestigatewhethertheperformanceandnetworkcharacteristicslinkagesaremoderatedbythegender,jobandpositionalauthorityoftheego.TheoryandHypotheses5Thebenefitsderivedfromone’spersonalnetworkarebaseduponthesocialexchangetheory(Blau,1964).Accordin