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- Title
Communication Network Evolution in Organizational Communities.
- Authors
Monge, Peter; Heiss, Bettina M.; Margolin, Drew B.
- Abstract
Organizational communities are typically defined as populations of organizations that are tied together by networks of communication and other relations in overlapping resource niches. Traditionally, evolutionary theorists and researchers have examined organizational populations that comprise organizational communities by focusing on their properties rather than on the networks that link them. However, a full understanding of the evolution of organizational communities requires insight into both organizations and their networks. Consequently, this article presents a variety of conceptual tools for applying evolutionary theory to organizations, organizational communities, and their networks, including the notions of relational carrying capacity and linkage fitness. It illustrates evolutionary principles, such as variation, selection, and retention, that lead to the formation, growth, maintenance, and eventual demise of communication and other network linkages. This perspective allows us to understand the ways in which community survival and success are as dependent on their communication linkages as they are on the organizations they connect. The article concludes with suggestions for potential applications of evolutionary theory to other areas of human communication.
- Subjects
ORGANIZATIONAL communication; ORGANIZATIONAL behavior; ORGANIZATIONAL sociology; INDUSTRIAL psychology; SOCIAL psychology; ORGANIZATIONAL socialization
- Publication
Communication Theory (1050-3293), 2008, Vol 18, Issue 4, p449
- ISSN
1050-3293
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1468-2885.2008.00330.x