The Power of the Weak
Contemporary Perspectives on Organizational Social Networks
ISBN: 978-1-78350-751-1, eISBN: 978-1-78350-752-8
Publication date: 14 July 2014
Abstract
Weak organizational actors can overcome the consequences of their dependence by securing the control of valuable resources or by embedding dependence relationships into social networks. While these strategies may not eliminate the underlying dependence, they can curtail the ability or the willingness of the stronger party to use power. Embedding strategies, however, can also have unintended consequences. Because the network structures that confer power to the weak are inherently more stable, they can persist beyond the point of being beneficial, trapping weak actors into unsuitable network structures. The power of the weak can thus become the weakness of the strong.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
We thank Professor Kathy Eisenhardt for suggesting the title for this essay and the editors of this special volume for their valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Citation
Gargiulo, M. and Ertug, G. (2014), "The Power of the Weak", Contemporary Perspectives on Organizational Social Networks (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 40), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 179-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X(2014)0000040009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited