This paper examines how professional use informal networks in organizations delivering essential utilities (water and sewage, power and effective transport systems). These firms are usually publicly owned, or operate in a... [ view full abstract ]
This paper examines how professional use informal networks in organizations delivering essential utilities (water and sewage, power and effective transport systems). These firms are usually publicly owned, or operate in a public-private consortium or the government contracts private firms to undertake this work (Brunetto et al. 2014a; Xerri et al. 2014a). A network is a “set of nodes or actors and relationships between these nodes” (Kapucu, Hu & Khosa 2014, 4). Binz-Scharf, Lazer and Mergel (2012, 3) differentiate informal networks from formal networks because they “cut across traditional organizational structures … and therefore generally are not included in formal reporting procedures”.
There is a lack of research about how informal networks work in public organizations and Kapucu, et al. (2014, 24) argues that one reason for the lack of research is that it is difficult to collect network data that involves examining “interpersonal relationships or interactions between individuals”. Their advantage is that unlike bureaucratic structures, they “provide flexible structures that are inclusive, information rich, and outside the scope of direct bureaucratic control” (Isett et al. 2011, 1159).
This paper examines the informal networks formed by professionals as a means of getting work done in organisations. Binz-Scharf, Lazer and Mergel, (2011) says that professionals form a specialized type of bounded informal network (communities of peers) based on their discipline-specific knowledge and beliefs, and values and supported by a codes of practice which specify the important values on which work practices should be based.
This paper uses structural equation modelling to examine how formal and informal structures interact to impact the culture in the organisation and the commitment of employees.
References
Binz-Scharf, Maria Christina, Lazer, David and Mergel, Ines, 2012. Searching for Answers Networks of Practice Among Public Administrators. The American Review of Public Administration (42) 2: 202-225.
Brunetto, Yvonne, Xerri, Matthew J. and Nelson, Silvia, 2014b. Building a proactive, engagement culture in asset management organizations. Journal of Management in Engineering (30) 4: 1-9
Kapucu, Naim, Hu, Qian and Khosa, Sana, 2014. The State of Network Research in Public Administration. Administration & Society (Advance Online Publication) 1-34.
Xerri, Matthew J., Nelson, Silvia and Brunetto, Yvonne, 2014b. Importance of workplace relationships and attitudes toward organizational change in engineering asset-management organizations. Journal of Management in Engineering
