Social Networks and Group Effectiveness: the Role of External Network Ties

This research explores the relationship between group effectiveness and social networks. Through a five months long ethnographic observation within three work groups employed in one of the major Italian fashion firm, we recorded all interactions occurring within the groups and outside groups boundaries, thereby deriving the enacted communication network. Then, by means of structured interviews, we collected evaluations of groups effectiveness and information about the declared, i.e. self-reported, communication network. Performance evaluations of the three groups differ and the difference cannot be traced back to the amount of communication network activated nor to the level of group members’ competencies or their internal network structure. The field evidence suggests that the better evaluation received by one group relates to the quality of the relationships it activates. This group assumes a coordinating role in the whole fashion development process: in particular it spontaneously triggers, through reciprocal interactions, modalities of design for manufacturing not formally required, fostering a co-design which is rewarded by the organizational members with higher evaluations. The study has implications for social network research by pointing out the importance to grasp the actual content of network relationships, beyond their presence and/or strength, to comprehend fully how network ties really influence organizational members’ perceptions and actions.