The Reconnection Process: Mobilizing the Social Capital of Dormant Ties

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rondi, Emanuela; Levin, Daniel Z.; De Massis, Alfredo
• 署名单位: University of Bergamo; Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Rutgers University Newark; Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; International Institute for Management Development (IMD); Lancaster University
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2023.1685
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: Social capital; dormant ties; social network; networking; latent ties; Relationships

摘要

Prior research has identified the value of reconnecting dormant ties (i.e., people you used to know), allowing individuals to refresh relationships and mobilize the value inherent in a tie (i.e., its social capital). However, less well understood is how this reconnection process occurs, including how it can be done well or poorly. To address this lack of knowledge, we conducted multi-organizational research combining an inductive, qualitative field study of professional reconnections by individuals in the North Italian textile district (Study 1) and, to validate our findings, a vignette-based experiment with U.S. workers (Study 2). We find that the process of reconnecting dormant ties can and does fail, sometimes dramatically, when people do not refresh the tie and, as a result, do not trust where they stand with each other. Specifically, we find that three elements-remembering, catching up, and perceiving the tie similarly-are key to successfully mobilizing the value of a dormant tie.