Brokering or Sitting Between Two Chairs? A Group Perspective on Workplace Gossip.

ABSTRACT: Brokerage is a central concept in the organization literature. It has been argued that individuals in broker positions-i.e., connecting otherwise disconnected parts within a firm's social network-can control the flow of information. It would imply their increased relevance in workplace gossip. This allegation, however, has not been addressed empirically yet. To fill this gap, we apply social network analysis techniques to relational data from six organizations in Hungary. First, we identify informal groups and individuals in broker positions. Then, we use this information to predict the likelihood with which positive or negative gossip is reported. We find more gossip when the sender and receiver are part of the same group and more positive gossip about in-group rather than out-group targe

SUBMITTER: Estevez JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9309222 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature