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The contingent effect of work roles on brokerage in professional organizations Cover

The contingent effect of work roles on brokerage in professional organizations

By: Anssi Smedlund and  Emily W. Choi  
Open Access
|Apr 2020

Figures & Tables

Means, standard deviations, and correlations_

VariableMeanSD1234567
1Billable hours103.8832.89
2Promoting new ideas4.186.15−0.56**
3Independent work role0.470.50.30*−0.41**
4Tenure7.376.31−0.070.16−0.32**
5Female0.330.480.13−0.180.11−0.13
6Master’s degree0.830.38−0.060.2−0.39**0.08−0.20
7Inverse of Burt’s constraint0.060.06−0.190.41**−0.35**0.25*−0.41**0.06
8Betweenness centrality77.2989.72−0.32**0.77**−0.27*0.12−0.25*0.110.6**

Results of OLS and node-level regression analysis for billable hours (t-values in parentheses)_

Billable hoursModel 5 conventional OLSModel 6 permutation OLSModel 7 conventional OLSModel 8 permutation OLS
Independent work role0.43 (1.48)0.43 (1.44)0.62 (2.07)*0.62 (2.07)*
Tenure0.10 (0.69)0.10 (0.72)0.09 (0.65)0.09 (0.73)
Female0.09 (0.37)0.09 (0.34)0.10 (0.41)0.10 (0.46)
Master’s degree0.31 (1.05)0.31 (0.89)0.29 (0.92)0.29 (0.80)
Inverse of Burt’s constraint−0.91 (−2.55)*−0.91 (−2.20)*
Independent × Inv. of Burt’s constraint1.21 (3.06)**1.21 (2.60)*
Betweenness centrality−0.25 (−1.67)−0.25 (−1.83)
Independent × Betweenness0.32 (1.12)0.32 (0.94)
Constant−0.34 (−0.86)−0.34 (na)−0.53 (−1.32)−0.53 (na)
R20.180.180.140.14
n65656565

Results of conventional and node-level OLS regression analysis for promoting new ideas (t-values in parentheses)_

Promoting new ideasModel 1 conventional OLSModel 2 permutation OLSModel 3 conventional OLSModel 4 permutation OLS
Independent work role−0.54 (−1.62)−0.54 (−1.79)−0.82 (−3.08)**−0.82 (−3.25)**
Tenure0.06 (0.45)0.06 (0.50)0.10 (0.79)0.10 (0.91)
Female0.34 (1.57)0.34 (1.17)0.22 (1.20)0.22 (0.92)
Master’s degree0.15 (0.60)0.15 (0.41)0.11 (0.52)0.11 (0.35)
Inverse of Burt’s constraint2.10 (3.47)**2.10 (4.97)**
Independent × Inv. of Burt’s constraint−1.78 (−2.81)**−1.78 (−3.76)**
Betweenness centrality0.86 (5.92)**0.86 (7.22)**
Independent × Betweenness−0.33 (−1.25)−0.33 (−1.12)
Constant1.20 (3.09)**1.20 (na)1.65 (5.80)**1.65 (na)
R20.480.480.620.62
n65656565

Simple slopes of the Models 1, 3, 5, and 7_

Delta method
dy/dxSEzP > |z|[95% conf. interval]
Promoting new ideas
Inv. of Burt’s constraint independent work role
02.09692605103.470.001885673.30816
10.314510.199701.570.121−0.085230.71427
Betweenness centrality independent work role
00.862360.145625.920.0000.570871.15386
10.532690.220762.410.0190.090770.97460
Billable hours
Inv. of Burt’s constraint independent work role
0−0.909290.35692−2.550.014−1.62375−0.19484
10.305580.180131.700.095−0.054990.66157
Betweenness centrality independent work role
0−0.257080.15388−1.670.100−0.565110.05093
10.066240.245070.270.788−0.424320.55680

Differences between independent and interdependent work roles in a professional organization_

Independent roles in a professional organizationInterdependent roles in a professional organization
Typical formal roleProfessionalManager
Task interdependencyClient projects of several sequential and parallel tasks to be worked on alone and coordinated within the project teamSupervision over work units, selling, negotiating, and participating in several client projects. Member of business development and strategy development teams
Goal interdependencyClient project provides clear goals for each individual and for compiled output of projectSeveral goals coming from projects, firm, and clients
Feedback interdependencyIndividuals receive feedback from colleagues working on the same project. Collective feedback provided by superior and client during and after projectFeedback from the subordinates, from clients and from top management. Feedback from several projects
Requirements for collaboration and coordinationLowerHigher
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/connections-2019.012 | Journal eISSN: 2816-4245 | Journal ISSN: 0226-1766
Language: English
Page range: 47 - 59
Published on: Apr 27, 2020
Published by: International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2020 Anssi Smedlund, Emily W. Choi, published by International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.