Structural Holes and Good Ideas1

@article{Burt2004StructuralHA,
  title={Structural Holes and Good Ideas1},
  author={Ronald S. Burt},
  journal={American Journal of Sociology},
  year={2004},
  volume={110},
  pages={349 - 399}
}
  • R. Burt
  • Published 1 September 2004
  • Sociology
  • American Journal of Sociology
This article outlines the mechanism by which brokerage provides social capital. Opinion and behavior are more homogeneous within than between groups, so people connected across groups are more familiar with alternative ways of thinking and behaving. Brokerage across the structural holes between groups provides a vision of options otherwise unseen, which is the mechanism by which brokerage becomes social capital. I review evidence consistent with the hypothesis, then look at the networks around… Expand
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References

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Opinion leaders are more precisely opinion brokers who carry information across the social boundaries between groups. They are not people at the top of things so much as people at the edge of things,… Expand
Social Capital, Structural Holes and the Formation of an Industry Network
The formation of a network is determined by the opposition of two forces. The first is the reproduction of network structure as a general social resource for network members. The second is the… Expand
The external ties of top executives: Implications for strategic choice and performance.
We are grateful to Eric Abrahamson, Ron Burt, Eric Leifer, Aneil Mishra, and Bob Yavitz for their contributions on earlier drafts of this manuscript. The paper has also benefited from the… Expand
Network Positions and Propensities to Collaborate: An Investigation of Strategic Alliance Formation in a High-Technology Industry
I wish to acknowledge many helpful suggestions from Biil Barnett, Ron Burt, Glenn Carroll, Karel Cool, Mike Hannan, Jeff Pfeffer, Joel Podolny, and Jesper Sorensen, Comments from Mark Mizruchi and… Expand
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