Defense Alona Labun - April 23, 2012

On Monday, April 23, 2012, at 16.15 hours, in the Academiegebouw in Groningen, Alona Labun (ICS / Sociology, year group 2007) will defend her dissertation Social Networks and Informal Power in Organizations.

Under what conditions do the informally powerful actors in organizations emerge? And, under what conditions does informal power affect group dynamics, such as friendship formation, and individual outcomes, such as employee well-being? This dissertation draws on the immense literature on power and introduces a dynamic integrative approach to the comprehensive study of the antecedents of individual informal power and its potential consequences. Different theoretical perspectives are combined in a single overarching framework that highlights the cognitive foundations of informal power. Using longitudinal complete network data from two contrasting real-life organizations, and applying the most recent innovative developments in quantitative social network analysis, this research provides novel insights regarding visibility as an encompassing mechanism underlying the development of informal power in organizations.