Informal Network Context: Deepening the Knowledge and Extending the Boundaries of Social Network Research in International Human Resource Management.
Horak, S. & Paik, Y. (2023). Informal Network Context: Deepening the Knowledge
and Extending the Boundaries of Social Network Research in International Human
Resource Management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management,
34(12), 2367-2403. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2022.2090268
Link:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2022.2090268
Abstract
While informal networking has been universally regarded as an important feature
of expatriate effectiveness, respective network constructs (yongo, wasta,
blat/svyazi, etc.) remain weakly understood when taking expatriates’ ability to
connect to local networks into account. Drawing on informal institution and
social capital theory, we present informal networks as an important contextual
factor in international human resource management (IHRM), relevant to the work
of expatriates in particular. We define informal networks by pointing out their
distinctive nature in contrast to social networks and developing central themes
to guide future research in this area. This is achieved by integrating the
informal network context into research themes relevant to the IHRM domain. In
this paper, seven research themes centering on focal research questions are
developed, which, taken together, constitute a future research agenda and expand
the typical domain of IHRM research in the informal network context.
Keywords
International HRM; informal networks; guanxi; yongo; wasta; blat/svyazi;
informal institutions; social capital; context; expatriation