Grassroots Involvement in Interest Group Decision Making

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINE L. DAY
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Direct Mail ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Organizational Resources ◽  
Organizational Democracy ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Network Organizations ◽  
Group Members

Interest groups' increased use of centrally managed mass communications technologies has reduced opportunities for social networking among group members. This study examines the relationship between organizational democracy, or rank-and-file participation in decision making, and two indicators of social network opportunities: existence of local chapters and extent of direct-mail usage. Control variables include membership incentives, organizational resources, group age and size, and competition with other groups for members. Multivariate analyses of two interest group survey data sets, using ordinal logit, indicate that social network organizations are no more likely to involve their members in decision making than are centralized direct-mail organizations. The variables that are significantly related to grassroots involvement in organizational decision making include purposive and solidary membership incentives as well as some organizational resources, size, and age. Implications for further study of organizational democracy are discussed.

Using Network Analysis for Understanding How Decisions are Made

2011 ◽  
pp. 950-957
Author(s):  
Frédéric Adam
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Decision Aids ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level

Network analysis, a body of research that concentrates on the social networks that connect actors in society, has been found to have many applications in areas where researchers struggle to understand the complex workings of organisations (Nohria, 1992). Social network analysis (SNA) acknowledges that individuals are characterised just as much by their relationships with one another (which is often neglected in traditional research) as by their specific attributes (Knoke & Kuklinski, 1982) and that, beyond individuals, society itself is made of networks (Kilduff & Tsai, 2003). It is the study of the relationships between actors and between clusters of actors in organisations and in society that has been labeled network analysis. These high level observations about network analysis indicate that this orientation has great potential for the study of how managers, groups of managers, and organisations make decisions, following processes that unfold over long periods of time and that are sometimes very hard to fully comprehend without reference to a network approach. This article proposes to investigate the potential application of network analysis to the study of individual and organizational decision making and to leverage its strengths for the design and development of better decision aids.

scholarly journals Lateral Network Governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-265
Author(s):  
Johannes Glückler
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Governance Mode ◽  
Network Organizations ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Empirical Context ◽  
Practical Implications

AbstractThe author of this article goes beyond acknowledging networks as a governance mode to elaborate on the actual forms of governance that convey legitimate and acceptable coordination. He advances the concept of lateral network governance in the empirical context of organized networks, in which organizations pool resources and join their interests in the pursuit of common goals. To solve the puzzle of having independent equals commit themselves to coordinating their actions, the author aims to overcome the traditional dualism between formal and informal mechanisms of governance. Instead, he conceives lateral network governance as a structure for the legitimate delegation of decision-making. He develops a social network analytic approach to assessing the relational distribution of legitimacy. With his empirical analysis of two case studies of inter-firm network organizations, he illustrates the degree to which the actual legitimacy distribution diverges from formal governance authority. Lateral network governance has practical implications for inter-organizational networks and network managers.

Social Network, Information Flow and Decision-Making Efficiency

2011 ◽  
pp. 164-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Sueur
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Network Information ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Decision Speed

Every day, millions of humans make decisions about issues of interest for the group they represent. Equivalent processes have already been well described for animal societies. Many animal species live in groups and have to take collective decisions to synchronize their activities. However, group members not only have to take decisions satisfying the majority of individuals (i.e. decision accuracy) but also have a relatively short period to do so (i.e. decision speed). In decision-making, speed and accuracy are often opposed. The decision efficiency will vary according to the way individuals are inter-connected, namely according to the social network. However, the traditional approach used in management and decision sciences has been revealed to be insufficient to fully explain decision-making efficiency. This chapter addresses the question of how social network may enhance collective decision-making by increasing both the accuracy and the speed of decisions. Studies within different animal species are discussed. These studies include human beings, and combine field experiments, social network analysis, and modelling to illustrate how the study of animals may contribute to our understanding of decision-making in humans.

Prophetic Leadership Model: Conceptualizing a Prophet’s Leadership Behaviour, Leader-Follower Mutuality and Altruism to Decision Making Quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Complex Function ◽  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Leadership Model ◽  
Leadership Behaviour ◽  
Current Leadership

This article advocates that research is lacking on the connection between leadership theory and social network theory. To date, little empirical research has been conducted on leadership and social networks. Thus, the proposition of this article goes beyond traditional leadership models to advocate for a fuller and more integrative focus that is multilevel, multi-component and interdisciplinary, while recognizing that leadership is a complex function of both the organisational leaders and the followers who perform tasks, all of which subsequently leads to decision making qualities. Indeed, the current leadership model focuses on leadership behaviour and the ability to gain followers mutuality, to achieve decision making quality involving the integration of leadership and social network theories. Given the apparent mutable palette of contemporary leadership theory, this emergent construct of the leadership paradigm can expand the poles of the leadership continuum and contribute to a richer and deeper understanding of the relationships and responsibilities of leaders and followers as they relate to decision making qualities. This new construct, which is termed prophetic leadership, explores the literature of the life experiences of the prophet in the ‘Abrahamic Faith’ religion. Drawing on a priori links between the personality trait and spiritual leadership that has recently garnered the interest of scholars, the present study asserts a normative leadership theory that links the personal quality of a leader, posture and principal (based on the Prophet’s leadership behaviour) to synergy and decision making quality. Altruism is proposed to enhance relationships between leadership behaviour and decision making quality. For future research, much work needs to be done specifically aiming to (a) achieve greater clarity of construct definitions, (b) address measurement issues, and (c) avoid construct redundancy.

Prophetic Leadership Model: Conceptualizing a Prophet’s Leadership Behaviour, Leader-Follower Mutuality and Altruism to Decision Making Quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Complex Function ◽  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Leadership Model ◽  
Leadership Behaviour ◽  
Current Leadership

This article advocates that research is lacking on the connection between leadership theory and social network theory. To date, little empirical research has been conducted on leadership and social networks. Thus, the proposition of this article goes beyond traditional leadership models to advocate for a fuller and more integrative focus that is multilevel, multi-component and interdisciplinary, while recognizing that leadership is a complex function of both the organisational leaders and the followers who perform tasks, all of which subsequently leads to decision making qualities. Indeed, the current leadership model focuses on leadership behaviour and the ability to gain followers mutuality, to achieve decision making quality involving the integration of leadership and social network theories. Given the apparent mutable palette of contemporary leadership theory, this emergent construct of the leadership paradigm can expand the poles of the leadership continuum and contribute to a richer and deeper understanding of the relationships and responsibilities of leaders and followers as they relate to decision making qualities. This new construct, which is termed prophetic leadership, explores the literature of the life experiences of the prophet in the ‘Abrahamic Faith’ religion. Drawing on a priori links between the personality trait and spiritual leadership that has recently garnered the interest of scholars, the present study asserts a normative leadership theory that links the personal quality of a leader, posture and principal (based on the Prophet’s leadership behaviour) to synergy and decision making quality. Altruism is proposed to enhance relationships between leadership behaviour and decision making quality. For future research, much work needs to be done specifically aiming to (a) achieve greater clarity of construct definitions, (b) address measurement issues, and (c) avoid construct redundancy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document