Customer Reviews

Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital

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In Brokerage & Closure, Ron Burt takes up the question of what kinds of network structures generate the most valuable social capital. In any form of capital, scarce resources must be wisely allocated among competing alternatives to yield the greatest returns, and because workplace relationships are costly, we all invest in a limited set of ties. The problem addressed in this book is how people pursuing excellent performance at work should construct their social networks.

Among students of social capital, two rather stark choices for optimal network structures have emerged. Advocates of network closure suggest that it is best to create ties to others who are also tied to one another, largely because trust among network actors is more likely to emerge in such structures. It is, in other words, safest to ensconce oneself in a social clique. Proponents of brokerage argue that individuals who create ties to others who are otherwise disconnected will be exposed to a richer and wider variety of sources of information and will exercise more control over information flows than will those embedded in closed networks. A reasonable case can be made for the benefits flowing from both kinds of structures, and in Brokerage and Closure, Burt lays out the full story for each. He also provides a plausible synthesis of the different mechanisms, along with a compelling account of the dangers of excessive closure.

Better even than telling the stories, Burt puts the various explanations to the test in a variety workplace settings. His results generally favor brokerage, which is to say at work, those who develop a disproportionate number of ties to diverse, unconnected groups fare better on practically any outcome of interest to a corporate player (e.g., evaluations, promotions, salary). It's worth noting this is neither armchair theorizing nor ivory tower experimentation disconnected from the realities of corporate life. Much of the field work relied on in the book comes from Burt's work while serving as VP in a large defense/aerospace contractor. His findings, along with the findings he reviews from other researchers' studies, provide robust evidence of the value of brokerage.

Ron Burt is a social network pioneer who has actively contributed to network theory over the past 30 years. It goes without saying that Brokerage & Closure is a must read for academics with even a passing interest in social capital. But it is also required reading for the burgeoning population of consultants working with social networks, and managers (or aspiring managers) will learn much about the inner workings of social capital. Several reviewers--myself included in a review appearing elsewhere--have noted that Brokerage & Closure may be something other than a breezy read for those who have never been exposed to network concepts and the idea of social capital. There is a great deal of information packed in here. If you're looking for the deep insights into how social capital is created and employed, this is the book, and even for those new to these ideas, it's well worth the effort. Academics looking for them will find the methodological details and other analytical intricacies buried in the elaborate footnotes; readers looking for the practical significance can stick to the text.

There is a lot being written about networks and social capital right now. Too often, the result is shallow and without supporting evidence. Brokerage & Closure is rich in descriptive detail and insight, and the conclusions are well grounded. This is not light fare, but if you really want to understand how to build and act on social capital to perform your job, this is the source.

It's no secret that I am a fan of Professor Ronald Burt's work. His book "Structural Holes: the Social Structure of Competition ", is a seminal publication. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for "Brokerage and Closure ", although I would still give it four stars. Read in sequence and in conjunction with each other they offer the knowledge management practitioner and network analyst some useful insights.

Once again Burt's writing style is academic in flavour, with many examples. At times it is heavy going, but I still think well worth the effort. Burt remains interested in the structure of networks and particularly the links, or relationships, rather than node attributes. I think the focus on links rather than nodes is important. I just wish the software tools were better at showing link attributes, although I note NetMiner 3 is becoming more powerful in this area. One of the taken for granted but important assertions Burt makes is relationships amplify diversity and individual power, however in turn many diverse links enhance the power of relationships.

The central theme of this book is still around brokerage between structural holes , but this time he introduces the idea of closure. For Burt closure is about reputation building. Unlike brokerage closure is typically not the direct result of efforts by an individual. Instead closure emerges from dense linkages in a network where one individual is `favoured' over others for some reason. Typically this arises because this individual employs a Tertius Iungens strategy rather than a Tertius Gaudens strategy, although Burt does not make such a clear-cut distinction.

One of the paradoxes Burt highlights is the tension between brokerage and closure. Closure results in trust and a dense or tightly knitted network, but it can also result in group-think and conformity, a problem I see in some public list-serves at the moment. On the other hand brokerage opens the network to new opportunities, but ultimately is reliant on trust networks. From this I deduce that Tertius Gaudens strategies slowly evolve into Tertius Iungens networks, but here I could be wrong. It also seems to me that most organisations are optimised for closure.

All in all this book was an excellent read, although I do believe "Structural Holes: the Social Structure of Competition" should be read first. I would recommend this book to any serious knowledge practitioner or network analyst. I remain convinced that understanding structural holes matter. I am also convinced understanding who is employing a Tertius Gaudens or Tertius Iungens strategy matters!


Regards, Graham

Professor Ronald S. Burt examines the formal and informal dynamics of organizations' social structures. He explains how people ("brokers") who belong to more than one group in an organization disseminate new information across group lines. Such brokers perform an invaluable social function by building "social capital" among groups. Burt contrasts this social function with its opposite: "closure," the bonds of internal trust in a contained group. We warn that this textbook will probably be most useful to readers who are already familiar with theories about social capital and its formation. Its insider language and academic approach may be difficult for uninitiated readers to penetrate. Burt uses sophisticated studies and complex graphs to demonstrate brokerage and closure; nonsociologists will find that his illustrative, but tangential, anecdotes and examples are more accessible than those references. Thus, his explanatory digressions will be the sections of greatest accessibility and interest to most readers.

Ronald Burt is a leading author in the field of social capital. This paper edition of the earlier book covers most of what you will need to know to get up to speed on the literature. It is worth the new book price for anyone seeking to expand his/her knowledge in the field. A good companion book is Castigline, Deth, and Wolleb (2008) The Handbook of Social Captial. Oxford

The author presents a introduction into social capital in a strictly "information circulation" business sense. Its not very useful for those interested in applying the ideas of social capital and its not very informative for sociology students interested in the learning about social capital for the first time. Between all the examples and statistics the author sites here are my notes and the main points.

Social capital - the advantage created by a person's location in the structure of a relationship is know as social capital - the sum of the resources, actual or real, that accrue to an individual or group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintances and recognition -the function of social structure producing advantage.
Social capital is productive, making possible the achievement of certain ends that would not be attainable in its absence. Social structure defines a kind of capital that can create for individuals or groups an advantage in pursuing their ends. People and groups who do well are somehow better connected.

Social capital explains how people do better because they are somehow better connected with other people. Certain people are connected to certain others, trusting certain others, obligated to support certain others, dependent on exchange with certain others. One's position in the structure of these exchanges can be an asset in its own right. That asset is social capital, a concept of location effects in differentiated markets.

Focus on information circulation - how information spread across the people in a population

Brokerage - increasing variation of information in a group where groups are separated. People who network between groups are `brokers'. Assumption - information is more homogenous within groups. Brokerage puts people in a position to learn about things they didn't know they didn't know

Within groups are often expressed in a local language - the more specialized the language within groups, the greater the difficulty in moving ideas between groups

Redundant information - all individuals are connected to the same source of information

Brokerage opportunities - the structure around a person indicates the kind of person he or she is, so motivation does not have to be measured once one has a measure of network structure - role in relationship defines motivation/ performance of role

Closure - decreasing variation of information in a group - reinforces the status quo
Closure increases the odds of a person being caught and punished for displaying belief or behavior inconsistent with preferences in the closed network

Three ways that network can be closed to brokerage - too few contacts, contacts too interconnected, or contacts too connected indirectly through a central person
Echo hypothesis - closed networks do not enhance information flow so much as they reinforce predispositions

AND that is the meat of the book, for me at least. The example really aren't that interesting and the authors writing style is academic so it isn't like Freakanomics or Tipping Point where the style is more newspaper magazinish.

the title pretty much says it. more people need to be aware of their privilege and place in our developed u.s. world. specifically what that means about how we contribute literally to the rape, torture, and death of people in many developing nations.