Business Commons^™

Managers Look To The Social Network To Seek Information, Maureen L. Mackenzie Ph.D.

Faculty Works: Business (1973-2022)

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to explore how managers selected individuals to serve as information sources. The social context of a for-profit business environment offered opportunity to study information seeking among interacting line-managers.

Method. The qualitative methods of social network mapping and interview were used to capture the data. The study was conducted within a stand-alone business unit of a major US-based corporation. A total of twenty-two line-managers participated in the study.

Analysis. Content analysis was selected as the data analysis technique. The elements of interest were the themes within the data. Open coding was used to interrogate …