Bringing the Individual Back in: A Structural Analysis of the Internal Market for Reputation in Organizations

Abstract

We challenge the claimed incommensurability of individualism and structuralism by showing how a cognitive theory can guide the use of structural methods. According to balance theory, there is a strain toward cognitive balance in observers' perceptions of friendship relations. Thus, we found, as predicted, that being perceived to have a prominent friend in an organization boosted an individual's reputation as a good performer, but that actually having such a friend (as assessed by conventional structural methods) had no effect. Bringing individual perceptions back into structural analysis enhances, rather than detracts from, the effectiveness of a structural approach.