The burdens and benefits of information flow: Social structure, interdependence, information flow and performance.

摘要

Information has become increasingly important in modern organizations. It is frequently the form and function of work. Queries, novel information, facts and reports are used to complete tasks, coordinate interdependencies, and share knowledge. While information is critical to organizational and individual effectiveness, little is known about the mechanisms whereby information affects individual performance. This dissertation encompasses three empirical studies investigating how access to and the flow of information affect individual performance. The first study examines how the search routines individuals invoke to utilize different sources of information impacts their performance. I explore competing theoretical models in which information sourced from personal and impersonal channels are complements or substitutes of each other. The results demonstrate that ambidextrous information access utilizing both personal and impersonal sources increases an individual's performance. The second study examines the effects of social structure on the flow of information within organizations. Social network theory suggests that an individual's position in an informal social network will impact their access to information. This study explicitly tests this assumption. I find that centrality and brokerage do increase an individual's information flow. Moreover, I examine the performance effects of increased information flow and find that social-structural positions of centrality and brokerage may create an information liability in that increased information flow burdens individuals and decreases their performance. The third study introduces and tests the concept of over-coordination. While coordination is necessary to resolve interdependencies in the firm, too much coordination becomes too much of a good thing. I find that over-coordination reduces individual performance. In this study, I also examine how variation in the flow of information to individuals impacts their performance. I find that variations in information flow, the number and type of information sources, and the relevance of the information all impact individual performance. Hypotheses in all three studies are tested using a unique dataset based on survey, email traffic, company records, and managerial performance evaluations data of 152 individuals in a large financial institution.