Deneen M. Hatmaker

Learning the Ropes: Communities of Practice and Social Networks in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT How do public agencies integrate new employees and shape their learning process? How do newcomers’ connections, formed with experienced professionals, help them “learn the ropes”? Public managers may find themselves asking such questions as they employ tactics to transition newcomers into productive organizational members who fit in well. At the same time that managers work to shape newcomer learning, newcomers proactively develop their own ties within the organization for information and support. This study examines organizational socialization tactics in a state agency using longitudinal qualitative and social network data. We investigate the dynamics of organizationally instituted communities of practice and individual level egocentric networks in the context of newcomer adaptation. Our analysis reveals that while both are venues for newcomer learning and information acquisition there exists a distinction in real-time learning and practice between these two knowledge sources. Our article develops implications for both public management theory and practice.

Mobile Trust, Enacted Relationships: Social Capital in a State-Level Policy Network

ABSTRACT What holds a policy network together? Our previous work on policy networks and “network systems” (Rethemeyer 2005; 2007a,b; Rethemeyer and Hatmaker 2008) suggests that personal social capital, organizational social capital, and resource dependence are complementary bases for cohesion in policy networks. In this article we take up the challenge issued by Ibarra, Kilduff, and Tsai (2005, 359) to “bring the individual back in” to network studies by examining the dynamics between individual and organizational social capital (a process that has not been fully developed in the literature) and to tighten the connection between social capital and resource dependence. Although researchers acknowledge that personal social capital contributes to organizational social capital (Knoke 1999; Burt 1992), to our knowledge, no studies have examined how it contributes in a longitudinal, interorganizational policy network study.In this paper we present findings from a longitudinal case study of an adult basic education policy network between 1998 (“Wave 1”) and 2005 (“Wave 2”) in a state we have pseudonymed “Newstatia.” Using the theoretical framework from the first section and the case findings in section three, we weave together social capital and resource dependence to present the concept of “enacted interorganizational relationships.”

Bringing Networks In: A model of organizational socialization in the public sector

Abstract Integrating new employees so that they perform well, fit in well and are committed to the agency is a salient concern for public managers. Organizational socialization is the process by which new employees learn the knowledge, skills and values required to become organizational members. This article develops a model of organizational socialization grounded in newcomer social networks and set within a context of public service identity. Social network theory and methods offer a means for examining and interpreting patterns of interactions between newcomers and organizational members. This article concludes with propositions for future studies of organizational socialization and social networks.

Who Are All These People? Longitudinal Changes in New Employee Social Networks Within a State Agency

Organizational socialization is the process by which newcomers adapt to their organization and learn how to become productive organizational members. Organizations employ tactics such as classroom training, mentoring, orientation sessions, and on-the-job training to assist new employees in their transition. At the same time, newcomers engage in their own proactive efforts to seek information and establish ties with experienced organizational members who have access to valued resources. While scholarship has noted the importance of both socialization and employee intraorganizational networks within public sector organizations, little research has focused on these areas. This article links the organizational socialization and social network frameworks by examining how the networks of new employees in a state agency change over time. Based on our findings, we offer implications for rewarding core advisors, mentoring programs, and fostering interactions between newcomers and experienced organizational members.

Knowing, Doing, and Becoming: Professional Identity Construction among Public Affairs Doctoral Students

Abstract Public administration scholars have long examined how doctoral students in public affairs are trained to become researchers. Our study adds to this body of knowledge by examining socialization and professional identity construction processes among doctoral students conducting public affairs research. We develop a multilevel model of the organizational, relational, and individual level tactics through which they learn to become researchers. In particular, our study offers insight into the interactions between students and faculty that contribute to their development, as well as into students’ own proactivity. Our study uses interview data from doctoral students in multiple disciplines who are conducting research in public affairs. We conclude with a discussion of our model and recommendations for doctoral programs.

Fine-Tuning the Signal: Image and Identity at the Federal Reserve

ABSTRACT This article develops a conceptual model of fine-tuning by elite policymakers. Fine-tuning is a set of strategic practices employed by policy elites to construct the signals sent to stakeholders outside the organization. Such signals are used to influence immediate stakeholder behavior as well as maintain longer-term agency reputation. The clarity of the signal varies strategically from transparency to opacity according to political and economic circumstances. We identify two fine-tuning practices, expectation modulation and credibility filtering, which are part of the toolkit of the signalers. These practices are grounded in an agencys sense of its image and identity. Using verbatim transcripts of meetings at the Federal Reserve, this article explores the fine-tuning practices that are employed by policymakers to store up trust, anticipate threats, and rationalize failure to stakeholders.

Coauthorship Networks in Public Service Motivation Scholarship: Implications for the Evolution of a Field

How does a body of scholarship emerge, develop, and evolve? Research is the product of a community of scholars and their collaboration over time builds and disseminates knowledge. One way to examine a scholarly community and scholarship evolution is to consider patterns of collaboration through coauthorship networks. This article conducts a social network analysis of coauthorship between public service motivation (PSM) scholars from 1990 to 2016. This analysis depicts the social structure of the field as it evolved and offers implications both for its theoretical progress and for individual scholars. In general, we find that the PSM coauthorship network has grown increasingly since 1990 but it is not a cohesive network of scholars. It consists of many disconnected subgroups that actually represent opportunities for individual scholars to build social capital and influence. We conclude with implications of our findings and we offer suggestions for further analysis.

WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE? MANAGING EXPANSION, CHANGE, AND SUCCESS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT.

The article discusses how newly hired workers acclimate to an organization, and ways in which organizations attempt to help with their organizational socialization. The social networking aspect is ...