A BRIDGE TOO FAR: THE EFFECT OF INFORMAL TIES ACROSS FORMAL BOUNDARIES ON INDIVIDUAL EXPLORATION PERFORMANCE*

This paper examines the effect of informal relationships that connect actors across formal organization boundaries on their relative exploration performance. We distinguish between informal ties that connect actors across formally defined organization boundaries, and the extent to which actors have informal ties that bridge disconnected elements of the social structure. Further, we separate the effects by internal and external network ties. Consistent with extant research, we argue that internal indirect ties allow for mobilization of resources and therefore have a positive effect on exploration performance. In contrast, external indirect ties have a negative effect on exploration. We further posit that internal cross-specialization ties – ties that cross formally defined areas of specialization – are an important mechanism by which actors access information and resources from different knowledge domains. Nevertheless, to successfully mobilize such resources across formal organization boundaries, individuals benefit from having strong indirect ties in their internal networks. Similarly, external cross-specialization ties only have a positive effect on exploration performance when actors have external indirect ties in their networks. Detailed data on 1386 informal relationships of 79 senior partners in a large management consultancy lend support to these arguments.