談虛擬微政治在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中非正式策略的影響

1、虛擬微政治-在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中非正式策略的阻礙一、簡介應(yīng)付全球化和科技進(jìn)展，在十年之間虛擬組織和網(wǎng)絡(luò)應(yīng)運(yùn)而生，它作為新的組織結(jié)構(gòu)，接著趕超市場的重要性。這點(diǎn)尤其針對網(wǎng)絡(luò)自由人和中小型企業(yè)。盡管虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)已過存在專門長時刻，但仍需要研究關(guān)于他們的內(nèi)在動力以及領(lǐng)導(dǎo)、治理機(jī)制。因此，網(wǎng)絡(luò)治理是一個有味的話題，因為網(wǎng)絡(luò)組織中通常以缺乏正規(guī)的層次結(jié)構(gòu)和角色為表達(dá)，并沒有任何正式的結(jié)構(gòu)。因此，它是在塑造和治理網(wǎng)絡(luò)中切合實(shí)際的呈現(xiàn)非正式行為引發(fā)的個人利益所發(fā)揮至關(guān)重要作用的地點(diǎn)。在研究中，我們調(diào)查的微觀政治概念是有助于解釋虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的行為的?！拔⒄巍币辉~引用的是個人利益攸關(guān)者獲得權(quán)力和阻礙組織設(shè)置內(nèi)的非正式行動。來自

2、組織科學(xué)和心理學(xué)，在過去的幾十年中，組織內(nèi)的微政治行為已廣泛分布。我們的論文目的是把微觀政治的概念從組織內(nèi)設(shè)置成與各組織間的平行。調(diào)查微政治行為是否可行的角度需要在虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)上，進(jìn)行面試定性研究與各種網(wǎng)絡(luò)定性，代表質(zhì)疑他們的看法并考慮行動爭取權(quán)力的阻礙。因此，我們的工作的貢獻(xiàn)是擴(kuò)大到組織間的微觀政治的概念虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)，提供結(jié)構(gòu)與權(quán)力的這種網(wǎng)絡(luò)策略的第一次實(shí)證洞察。二、虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)虛擬組織能夠采取各種形式。然而，大多數(shù)定義同意虛擬組織是“組織間，跨邊界信通法律上獨(dú)立的實(shí)體，通常與一個特定的經(jīng)濟(jì)目標(biāo)之間的協(xié)作”的形式。超出這些差不多的屬性，虛擬組織能夠相差專門多，例如有關(guān)成員資格、參與和持續(xù)時刻的穩(wěn)定性等

3、條目。在研究中，我們考慮的虛擬組織作為獨(dú)立的企業(yè)或企業(yè)家網(wǎng)絡(luò)。成員 (或成員組織)分不從事這種形式的合作，以他們預(yù)期的經(jīng)濟(jì)優(yōu)勢進(jìn)展，例如以擴(kuò)大客戶群或共同開發(fā)新的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)。另一方面，網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員還經(jīng)常作為個人在市場上的競爭對手。因此，虛擬企業(yè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的協(xié)作也被稱作“合作競爭”類似常任理事國間微妙的平衡行為之間的合作與競爭。我們所研究的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)大多是多中心網(wǎng)絡(luò)，即高度分布式和其成員的高度自治的松散耦合的關(guān)聯(lián)。這意味著通常是有專門權(quán)限或優(yōu)于其他成員沒有正式的權(quán)力。在我們的調(diào)查中，小型和中型企業(yè)或自由職業(yè)者組成了要緊的網(wǎng)絡(luò)。在如此的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中，典型的元素虛擬組織變得尤為明顯，如缺乏正規(guī)的層次結(jié)構(gòu)和規(guī)則以及信

4、息、通信技術(shù)的嚴(yán)峻依靠。此外，面對上文“合作競爭”一定量的成員之間的信任是關(guān)鍵處理的不安全感和不拘形式的情況。特點(diǎn)有網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員之間的個人關(guān)系（或代表的成員企業(yè)）分不發(fā)揮著至關(guān)重要的作用。基于這種特性，我們將使用術(shù)語“虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)”和組織間網(wǎng)絡(luò)互換在此文件中。三、微政治組織的概念微政治組織的概念包括個體角色不斷進(jìn)行交互。微政治進(jìn)程中組織科學(xué)視為個人談判其利益的過程，在與他人交往和獲得權(quán)力并施加阻礙的策略。盡管這些進(jìn)程包含非正式的性質(zhì)和非組織的認(rèn)可，但可不能阻礙組織內(nèi)的權(quán)力結(jié)構(gòu)。3.1 組織內(nèi)微政治進(jìn)程在過去的幾十年里由于理論刊物的快速增長和實(shí)證研究集中的阻礙以及政治組織內(nèi)設(shè)置的組織科學(xué)和心理學(xué)的阻礙。

5、微政治進(jìn)程已被廣泛討論的一種方法側(cè)重于組織成員的政治行為。在這方面，微政治被認(rèn)為是一組常規(guī)的具有社會性為且能作出貢獻(xiàn)的組織差不多運(yùn)作的一部分。因此，微政治進(jìn)程有經(jīng)常調(diào)查的方式觀看職員的阻礙策略。在工作中使用此類阻礙策略能夠針對不同的目標(biāo)或以自我中心，以及組織集中。在這一領(lǐng)域的工作已導(dǎo)致各種類型的阻礙策略，以及他們前因后果的可能性。3.2 組織間的微政治進(jìn)程我們認(rèn)為，在微政治治理的一個有用的概念和領(lǐng)會關(guān)系中，特不是治理的多中心網(wǎng)絡(luò)，是沒有正式的結(jié)構(gòu)和規(guī)則的，然而非正式的流程和策略的阻礙以及談判方式，也會引發(fā)關(guān)于“政治”行為重要性的行為者意識。在虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)模式的正式結(jié)構(gòu)丟失，組成聯(lián)盟，并建

6、立一個有阻礙力的位置，并從合作中受益的個不活動應(yīng)有特不的效果。此外，信息和通信技術(shù)(ICT)的使用，虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)可能有助于，甚至構(gòu)成微政治進(jìn)程，若技術(shù)有助于使現(xiàn)有的流程和結(jié)構(gòu)更加明確，既帶來新的角色和規(guī)則，信息和通信技術(shù)的使用中的經(jīng)驗特不豐富的網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員就可能使用他們的知識來獲得掌控力。因此，我們在研究中需要研究以下問題：1什么微政治進(jìn)程能夠在內(nèi)組織間被網(wǎng)絡(luò)標(biāo)識？他們是不同類型的策略，在組織內(nèi)的上下文中可識不嗎？2如何識不微政治行為的組織間設(shè)置成功與否？它是如何阻礙虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的？3微政治進(jìn)程是如何通過虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的技術(shù)實(shí)現(xiàn)的？四、方法研究是在 2009 年春季與有關(guān)治理與創(chuàng)新中組織間提及的研究項目的一部

7、分。依靠互聯(lián)網(wǎng)探究，我們招聘對網(wǎng)絡(luò)組織有興趣的成員去定性的研究會談。需要滿足以下條件列入研究網(wǎng)絡(luò)： a)水平成員/成員組織b)多中心治理和c)最低的三個成員/成員組織之間的關(guān)系?？傮w而言，我們對來自不同的部門和行業(yè)（包括媒體設(shè)計、海運(yùn)業(yè)、房地產(chǎn)業(yè)務(wù)、咨詢業(yè)務(wù)、貼標(biāo)工業(yè)醫(yī)學(xué)、農(nóng)業(yè))的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員進(jìn)行了半結(jié)構(gòu)化的深入訪談。企業(yè)規(guī)模達(dá)30名與中小企不從單身企業(yè)等。介乎3至12個成員/成員組織的網(wǎng)絡(luò)規(guī)模。我們所采訪人的年齡在28到61歲之間，其中有6名女性和9名男性。經(jīng)濟(jì)目標(biāo)像是聯(lián)合客戶的項目或是銷售被命名的網(wǎng)絡(luò)主體13/15的網(wǎng)絡(luò)代理。稍有不同，醫(yī)療網(wǎng)絡(luò)的目的是促進(jìn)溝通和交流，跨不同的醫(yī)療機(jī)構(gòu)，并訂

8、定條文，改善病人的醫(yī)療服務(wù)。農(nóng)民作為農(nóng)業(yè)合作社的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，所有網(wǎng)絡(luò)長期存在，并安排他們的合作，要緊是通過信息和通信技術(shù)的使用。技術(shù)應(yīng)用先進(jìn)的通信和群件平臺，從通過電子郵件和電話交換不等。要獲得全面和有效的數(shù)據(jù)，對人際關(guān)系的阻礙過程，我們專注于個人的網(wǎng)絡(luò)位置是否同意積極的相互作用，同時可否與其他網(wǎng)絡(luò)伙伴合作交流，或換言之誰是可能的對源目標(biāo)阻礙的測試。因此，我們專注于自由職業(yè)者和代表的小型和中型的企業(yè)，作為在網(wǎng)絡(luò)內(nèi)的各組織的邊界“扳手”。面試伙伴被問及他們的經(jīng)驗阻礙、政治覺悟、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力以及網(wǎng)絡(luò)知識，即哪些策略他們一直在使用或其他網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員的行為一直在使用，這些問題包含著他們在網(wǎng)絡(luò)內(nèi)的利益及如何使事件成功

9、的方法，因此這些方式差不多被落實(shí)了。為引出這些經(jīng)驗，我們請來描述所謂的關(guān)鍵事件被訪者或關(guān)鍵的阻礙嘗試差不多發(fā)生的人物，微政治后的通用過程并記錄研究情況。關(guān)于微政治行為的有效性，沒有固定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，成功的決心事先確認(rèn)，而被訪者被要求為他們的主觀推斷是否應(yīng)用策略并代表他們或其他的網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員。此標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，作為只需“獵取的方式”成功的通過其他研究微觀政治來獵取信息。此外，被訪者被問及有關(guān)網(wǎng)絡(luò)、競爭和信任的問題同時對項目過程的創(chuàng)新及使用信息、通信技術(shù)等方面的問題。同時搜集了正式的方面，例如網(wǎng)絡(luò)大小、持續(xù)時刻、 地域分布等方面的數(shù)據(jù)。面試(30-90分鐘），轉(zhuǎn)錄確實(shí)是為了依照一套固定的轉(zhuǎn)錄方式及預(yù)先定義的規(guī)則。使用

10、組合先驗，事后利用方法進(jìn)行定性的內(nèi)容分析：第一步，面試的數(shù)據(jù)結(jié)構(gòu)是依法推論出來，組織內(nèi)的微政治進(jìn)程的文獻(xiàn)的分類。第二步，在分類系統(tǒng)改進(jìn)，進(jìn)一步增加策略確定通過描述的行為和數(shù)據(jù)，網(wǎng)絡(luò)代理及行為的類。共31種區(qū)不，具體微政治行動分不按15種不同類不。新開發(fā)的分類系統(tǒng)穩(wěn)定性（內(nèi)編碼器可靠性）所測試的重復(fù)編碼后首次分析的三個星期里發(fā)覺，科恩的卡伯值計算可靠性指標(biāo)，內(nèi)編碼器可靠性專門優(yōu)秀(k =91）。同樣，交互內(nèi)編碼的可靠性（通過編碼由三個獨(dú)立的取值測算所得）被證明也是專門好的（k = 77）。五、討論我們研究的目的是在虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的微政治進(jìn)程的調(diào)查。微觀政治組織科學(xué)和心理描述非正式的策略，以獲得在傳

11、統(tǒng)組織中的權(quán)力和阻礙工整的概念。通過傳輸從組織內(nèi)的這種做法，組織間的水平，我們旨在揭示發(fā)生、特征、驗收和微政治行為的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的成功。結(jié)果表明盡管受下面討論的一些限制組織微政治行為的概念是確實(shí)可行和有助于解釋動力學(xué)的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)，包括來自不同企業(yè)的行動者。在沒有明確的層次結(jié)構(gòu)、結(jié)構(gòu)和角色時，我們所探討的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的要緊特點(diǎn)不準(zhǔn)確，微政治行為甚至特不不準(zhǔn)確。這導(dǎo)致我們的問題是否在組織間網(wǎng)絡(luò)的微政治行為是全然不同于傳統(tǒng)的組織內(nèi)發(fā)覺的策略。我們的研究結(jié)果顯示虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的成員使用微政治策略全匯輯，獲得的阻礙專門廣泛。然而，有一些區(qū)不：第一，確實(shí)是我們確定的特定于虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的組織，即調(diào)停是可見的并證明為職位空缺的

12、。第二，我們認(rèn)為這些結(jié)果是新的，因為體內(nèi)廣泛的組織微政治策略研究，因此到目前為止這些特定的策略尚未查明。第三，我們認(rèn)為在新發(fā)覺的策略被根植在非層次結(jié)構(gòu)特征下的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)（例如形成和抓?。ㄐ拢┑娜蝿?wù)和角色），而且在對技術(shù)支持的交互上（例如開發(fā)的電子通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的可見性的可能性）都有所依靠。只是，這是一個有味的研究觀點(diǎn)，探討如何用微政治進(jìn)程指導(dǎo)技術(shù)在傳統(tǒng)的組織中的應(yīng)用。措施的成效以及經(jīng)濟(jì)指標(biāo)包括（大小、 持續(xù)時刻）的成員網(wǎng)絡(luò)的穩(wěn)定性尤為重要。此外，在今后的研究包括整個網(wǎng)絡(luò)（或至少一大批他們的成員）中，也會作為測試的被測人員的微政治進(jìn)程，收斂性的一種手段，從而關(guān)心驗證結(jié)果或進(jìn)一步深入“虛擬微觀政治”的機(jī)

13、制。同時注意結(jié)果中描述微政治過程組織間網(wǎng)絡(luò)的多中心的結(jié)構(gòu)組成的獨(dú)立成員或成員組織和缺乏正規(guī)的層次結(jié)構(gòu)的角色。更正式的虛擬組織的類型可能會遇到其他形式的微政治行為的阻礙。六、涵義及以后動向在這一節(jié)，我們簡要討論可能阻礙的結(jié)構(gòu)與治理結(jié)構(gòu)的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)，以及設(shè)計的技術(shù)，用于支持虛擬的合作，并確定該問題的進(jìn)一步研究價值。6.1 涉及問題的研究與實(shí)踐結(jié)構(gòu)與治理結(jié)構(gòu)的虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)。基于我們的研究是可行的假設(shè)，微政治行為阻礙是相互的，溝通和決定性的方式處理在虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)決策中產(chǎn)生了結(jié)果。因此，播放“虛擬微政治”的方式可能會阻礙結(jié)果的穩(wěn)定和成功率。這也是以后開放研究所需要闡明的機(jī)制問題。研究結(jié)果表明不同的網(wǎng)絡(luò)進(jìn)展特色“組

14、織”文化中的不同級不和微政治行為的策略是可同意和認(rèn)可的。因此，我們做個假設(shè)，個不的微政治策略和首選項的作用成為了過程中的某些網(wǎng)絡(luò)成員。假如虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)治理傳達(dá)他們的“微政治文化”理念，他們可就這些(自我)的甄選程序，去制造更大的穩(wěn)定并減少網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的沖突。再次，這些阻礙，需要在今后的研究中加以澄清。關(guān)于設(shè)計和所用的技術(shù)，我們的研究結(jié)果也顯示技術(shù)是微政治行為的重要載體。因此，作為設(shè)計師的組件、其他信息和通信技術(shù)，我們應(yīng)該認(rèn)真看如何設(shè)計決策促進(jìn)或收縮微政治行為。關(guān)于實(shí)際的意義，如上文所述，有許多對結(jié)構(gòu)的含義，虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)感興趣的研究人員，以及從業(yè)人員的治理人員。例如，選擇新成員、處理沖突、網(wǎng)絡(luò)規(guī)則的制定、分配

15、角色，甚至選擇技術(shù)等然而，在虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中，微政治進(jìn)程研究的早期時期，詳細(xì)的建議還專門難做。作為一般性發(fā)言，從組織內(nèi)微政治進(jìn)程研究學(xué)習(xí)開始，組織就不應(yīng)忽略或設(shè)法抑制非正式規(guī)則的行為。微觀政治是現(xiàn)實(shí)的組織，也能夠產(chǎn)生有益的作用，因為它釋放了職員的制造力和動機(jī)的一部分。同樣，虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的成員應(yīng)同意微政治行為作為“游戲”規(guī)則。鑒于消極協(xié)會的權(quán)力，這可能不是件容易的事：“禁忌的力量仍可能是深深植根于禁忌的現(xiàn)代人的良心中的”。同樣地，往常的研究表明虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)的成員通常盡量幸免競爭，這是無疑的另一個現(xiàn)實(shí)的組織間合作的問題?？朔@些禁忌是虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)，可能會在咨詢過程中處理的組織進(jìn)展面所臨的挑戰(zhàn)。6.2 今后的工作我

16、們打算是在自己的研究中，認(rèn)真看看技術(shù)和虛擬微政治之間的關(guān)聯(lián)。研究問題，包括如何從不同類型的媒體鼓舞間證明其有效（關(guān)于不同的微政治策略）。在如此做時，我們會特不調(diào)查電子工件和虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的通信模式。此外，我們打算在不同時期的合作中，在虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)調(diào)查微政治行為：例如，特定的策略可能存在合作（例如假裝擁有一定的資源），稍后可能變得過時或甚至有害的初始時期。此外，進(jìn)出虛擬網(wǎng)絡(luò)化進(jìn)程將對微政治行為分析。因此也有一些，提示我們的數(shù)據(jù)應(yīng)使用不同的策略，取決于他們的年齡、性不及專業(yè)背景或行業(yè)治理部門經(jīng)驗。然而，我們當(dāng)前的示例依舊太小了，這些差異需要進(jìn)一步調(diào)查。目前，我們正進(jìn)行額外的采訪，用來解決這些問題我們采訪

17、指南的修訂版本。我們將為這些變量也占在今后定量研究，以探究社會人口因素和專業(yè)背景和微政治行為之間的關(guān)系?？紤]上述討論，我們打算進(jìn)行全面調(diào)查所有（或至少一大批）成員的屬于一個虛擬的網(wǎng)絡(luò)方法學(xué)問題。要如此做，我們將從社會網(wǎng)絡(luò)分析和價值網(wǎng)絡(luò)的分析方法著手。從開始所介紹的研究結(jié)果，我們現(xiàn)在也正在開發(fā)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的工具，以用來獲得關(guān)于使用、感知、和“虛擬微觀政治”的阻礙的可比數(shù)據(jù)。外文文獻(xiàn)及翻譯文獻(xiàn)、資料題目：Virtual Micro-Politics: Informal Tactics of Influence and Power in Inter-Organizational Networks文獻(xiàn)、資料

18、來源：Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii Intern-ational Conference on System Sciences外文文獻(xiàn)：Virtual Micro-Politics: Informal Tactics of Influence and Power in Inter-Organizational Networks1. IntroductionDue to globalization and technological developments, virtual organizations and networks have emerged in th

19、e last decade as new organizational structures and continue to gain importance on the market. This is especially true for networks of freelancers and small and medium-sized enterprises. Although virtual networks have been studied for quite some time, there is still need for research regarding their

20、inner dynamics and the mechanisms of leadership and governance. Network governance is an interesting topic because inter-organizational networks are typically characterized by a lack of formal hierarchies and roles and have no formal structure of leadership. Thus, it is sensible to assume that infor

21、mal actions of individual stakeholders play a crucial role in shaping and governing the network. In our study, we investigated whether the concept of micro-politics is useful to explain behavior in virtual networks. The term micro-politics refers to informal actions of individual stakeholders to gai

22、n power and exert influence within an organizational setting. Originating in organizational science and psychology, micro-political behavior within organizations has been extensively researched in the last decades. The aim of our paper is to transfer the concept of micro-politics from the intra-orga

23、nizational setting to the inter-organizational level. To investigate whether micro-political behavior is a feasible perspective on virtual networks, we conducted a qualitative interview study with representatives of various networks, questioning them about their perception and use of actions to gain

24、 power and influence. Therefore, the contribution of our work is to extend the concept of micro-politics to inter-organizational-or virtual-networks and to provide first empirical insights into structures and tactics of power within such networks. The paper is structured as follows: In section 2, we

25、 discuss and define virtual networks, as we understand them in our study. In section 3, we introduce the concept of micro-politics within organizations and transfer it to inter-organizational relations. Section 4 describes the methodology of our study. Results are presented and discussed in sections

26、 5 and 6. We conclude the article by discussing implications for the design of virtual networks and the supporting ICT from a researchers as well as a practitioners viewpoint and describing prospects for future work.2. Virtual networksVirtual organizations can take various forms. However, most defin

27、itions agree that virtual organizations are forms of inter-organizational, crossborder ICT-enabled collaboration between legally independent entities, usually with a specific economic goal.Beyond those basic properties, virtual organizations can vary considerably regarding the stability of membershi

28、p and participation and also the duration and goals of the cooperation.In our research, we take a view of virtual organizations as networks of independent enterprises or entrepreneurs. Members (or member organizations, respectively) engage in this form of cooperation because they expect economic adv

29、antages, e.g. to broaden the customer base or develop new products and services together. On the other hand, network members often also act as individual competitors on the market. Thus, collaboration in virtual business networks has also been termed coopetition: A permanent and delicate balancing a

30、ct between cooperation and competition.The virtual networks that we studied are mostly polycentric networks, i.e. highly distributed and loosely coupled associations with high degrees of autonomy of its members. This implies that there is typically no formal leader with special authority or superior

31、 to the other members. The networks we investigated are constituted predominantly by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or freelancers.In such networks, typical elements of virtual organizations become especially apparent, such as a lack of formal hierarchies and rules and a heavy reliance up

32、on information and communication technology.Furthermore, facing the coopetition explained above, a certain amount of trust among members is crucial to deal with the insecurity and informality of the situation: Thus, personal relations between network members (or representatives of member enterprises

33、, respectively) play a vital role.Based on this characterization, we will use the terms virtual networks and inter-organizational networks interchangeably in this paper.3. The concept of micro-politicsOrganizations consist of individual actors who interact constantly. Micro-political processes are u

34、nderstood in organizational science as strategies of individuals to negotiate their interests in interaction with others and gain and exert influence and power. Even though these processes are typically informal in nature and not organizationally sanctioned, they nevertheless influence power structu

35、res within organizations.3.1. Intra-organizational micro-politicalprocessesIn the last decades there has been a rapid growth intheoretical publications and empirical studies inorganizational science and psychology that havefocused on influence and politics in intra-organizationalsettings.One approac

36、h to micro-political processes that hasbeen extensively discussed focuses on theorganizational members political behavior. On thisnote, micro-politics is regarded as part of a general setof social behaviors that can contribute to the basicfunctioning of organizations. Accordingly, micro-political pr

37、ocesses have beenfrequently investigated by means of observingemployees influence tactics. Such influence tacticsused at work can be aimed at different goals and selffocusedas well as organization-focused. Work inthis field has led to a variety of typologies of influencetactics as well as their poss

38、ible antecedents andconsequences.3.2. Inter-organizational micro-politicalprocessesIn our view, micro-politics is a useful concept tostudy and understand inter-organizational relations aswell, especially polycentric networks without formalstructures and rules of governance, giving way toinformal pro

39、cesses and tactics of influence andnegotiation and also raising actors consciousnessregarding the importance of politically behavior.As formal structures of leadership are missing,individual activities to form coalitions and build aninfluential position in order to benefit from thecooperation should

40、 be especially effective in virtualnetworks.Furthermore, information and communicationtechnology (ICT) used by virtual networks mightcontribute to or even constitute micro-politicalprocesses, as technology serves to both make existingprocesses and structures more explicit as well as bringforth new r

41、oles and rules. Network actors whoare well experienced in the use of ICT might use theirknowledge to gain power.Therefore, in our study we investigated thefollowing main research questions:1. What micro-political processes can beidentified within inter-organizationalnetworks? Are they different from

42、 typicaltactics found in the intra-organizationalcontext?2. How successful is micro-political behavior inan inter-organizational setting? How does itaffect the virtual network?3. How are micro-political processes enactedthrough technology in virtual networks?4. MethodThe study was conducted in the s

43、pring of 2009 aspart of a larger research project concerned withgovernance and innovation in inter-organizationalnetworks1. By means of a systematic Internet researchwe recruited members of inter-organizational networksfor a qualitative interview study. The networks neededto fulfill the following cr

44、iteria to be included in thestudy: a) horizontal relationships betweenmembers/member organizations, b) polycentricgovernance, and c) a minimum of threemembers/member organizations.Overall, we conducted 15 semi-structured in-depthinterviewswith members of virtual networksfrom different sectors and in

45、dustries (IT, media design,shipping industry, real estate business, consultingbusiness, labeling industry medicine, farming). Theenterprise size ranged from single-person enterprises toSMEs with up to thirty members. The network sizeranged from three to twelve members/memberorganizations. Our interv

46、iew partners were betweenages 28 and 61, six were female, nine male.Economic goals such as joint customer projects orsales orders were named as the networks primaryobjective by 13 of the 15 network representatives.Slightly different, the medical networks aim was tofacilitate communication and exchan

47、ge across differentmedical sectors and, therewith, to improve patientsmedical treatment. The network of farmers acted as anagricultural cooperative. All networks were aimed atlong-term existence and arranged their collaborationmainly through the use of information andcommunication technologies. The

48、technologies appliedranged from exchange via e-mail and telephone tosophisticated communication and groupware platforms.To obtain comprehensive and valid data on interpersonal influence processes, we focused on individuals whose network positions allowed for lively interactions and exchange with the

49、 other network partners, or-in other words-who were likely to beboth the source and aim of influence attempts. Therefore we concentrated on freelancers and representatives of small and middle-sized enterprises, acting as the organizations boundary spanners within the network.The interview partners w

50、ere asked about their experiences with influence and politics, leadership, and power within their networks, i.e. what tactics and behaviors they had either been using themselves or other network members had been using to push their interests within the network, and how successful these tactics had p

51、roven. To elicit these experiences, we asked the interviewees to describe so-called criticalIncidents or key situations in which influence attempts had occurred, following the common procedure of prior research on micro-politics. Concerning the effectiveness of micro-political behavior, no fixed cri

52、teria for success were determined beforehand; instead the interviewees were asked for their subjective judgment whether the tactics applied had worked out for them or other network members. This open criterion of success as simply getting ones way has been commonly used in other studies on micro-pol

53、itics as well.Furthermore, the interviewees were asked about the emergence of the network, the issue of competition and trust, processes of innovation, and the use of ICT. Data on formal aspects such as network size, duration, geographical distribution etc. was alsoollected. The interviews (30-90 mi

54、nutes duration) were audiotaped and transcribed literally according to a fixed set of transcription rules that had been defined beforehand. A qualitative content analysis was conducted using a combined a-priori/post-hoc approach: In a first step, the interview data was structured according to a cate

55、gory system deduced from the literature on micro-political processes within organizations. In a second step, the category system was refined by adding further categories of tactics identified through the described behaviors and actions of network agents in the data. A total of 31 distinguishable con

56、crete micro-political actions in 15 different categories were identified.The stability (intra-coder reliability) of the newly developed category system was tested by repeated coding three weeks after the first analysis. Cohens Kappa wasalculated as reliability index. Intra-coder reliability was exce

57、llent (k=.91). Likewise, the inter-coder reliability (tested by having the material coded by three independentaters) proved to be very good (k=.77).6. DiscussionThe aim of our study was to investigate micro-political processes in virtual networks. Icro-politics is a well-researched concept in organi

58、zational science andsychology describing informal tactics to gain influence and power in traditionalrganizations. By transferring this approach from the intra-organizational to thenter-organizational level, we aimed to shed light on the occurrence, characteristics, acceptance, and success of micro-p

59、olitical behavior in virtual networks. Resultsndicate-despite some limitations discussed below-that the concept oficro-political behavior in organizations is indeed feasible and useful to explain theynamics of virtual networks, which comprise actors from different enterprises. In the absence of clea

60、r hierarchies, structures, and roles, which is a key characteristic of the virtual networks we explored, micro-political behavior even seems to fall onspecially fertile ground. This leads us to the question whether micro-political behavior innter-organizational networks is at all different from tact