Edward Bishop Smith

Identities as Lenses: How Organizational Identity Affects Audiences' Evaluation of Organizational Performance

This study calls into question the completeness of the argument that economic actors who fail to conform to certain identity-based logics—such as the categorical structure of markets—garner less attention and perform poorly, beginning with the observation that some nonconforming actors seem to elicit considerable attention and thrive. By reconceptualizing organizational identity as not just a signal of organizational legitimacy but also a lens used by evaluating audiences to make sense of emerging information, I explore the micro, decision-making foundations on which both conformist and nonconformist organizations may come to be favored. Analyzing the association between organizational conformity and return on investment and capital flows in the global hedge fund industry, 1994-2008, I find that investors allocate capital more readily to nonconforming hedge funds following periods of short-term positive performance. Contrary to prediction, nonconforming funds are also less severely penalized for recent poor performance. Both “amplification” and “buffering” effects persist for funds with nonconformist identities despite steady-state normative pressure toward conformity. I explore the asymmetry of this outcome, and what it means for theories related to organizational identity and legitimacy, in the discussion section.

A Model of Robust Positions in Social Networks

This article introduces a network model that pictures occupants of robust positions as recipients of diversified support from durably located others and portrays occupants of fragile positions as dependents on tenuously situated others. The model extends Herfindahls index of concentration by bringing in the recursiveness of Bonacichs method. Using Newcombs study of a college fraternity, we find empirical support for the contention that fragility reduces future growth in status. Applications of the model to input-output networks among industries in the U.S. economy and to hiring networks among academic departments are also presented. Implications for future research are discussed.

When Do Matthew Effects Occur

What are the boundary conditions of the Matthew Effect? In other words, under what circumstances do initial status differences result in highly skewed reward distributions over the long run, and when, conversely, is the accumulation of status-based advantages constrained? Using a formal model, we investigate the fates of actors in a contest who start off as status-equivalents, produce at different levels of quality, and thus come to occupy distinct locations in a status ordering. We build from a set of equations in which failing to observe cumulative advantage seems implausible and then demonstrate that, despite initial conditions designed to lead inevitably to status monopolization, circumstances still exist that rein in the Matthew Effect. Our results highlight the importance of a single factor governing whether the Matthew Effect operates freely or is circumscribed. This factor is the degree to which status diffuses through social relations. When actors’ status levels are strongly influenced by the status levels of those dispensing recognition to them, then eventually the top-ranked actor is nearly matched in status by the lower-ranked actor she endorses. In contrast, when actors’ status levels are unaffected by the status levels of those giving them recognition, the top-ranked actor amasses virtually all status available in the system. Our primary contribution is the intuition that elites may unwittingly and paradoxically destroy their cumulative advantage beneath the weight of their endorsements of others. Consequently, we find that the Matthew Effect is curtailed by a process that, at least in some social settings, is a property of status itself—its propensity to diffuse through social relations. Implications for future research are discussed.

Fine structure of Leydig cells from an arrhenoblastoma of the ovary

The electron microscopic morphology of Leydig cells from an arrhenoblastoma was compared with similar normal and neoplastic cells from testis and ovary. Foci of condensed cytoplasm and membranous whorls reported by previous authors were interpreted as stages of focal cytoplasmic degradation. Reinke crystalloids and related filamentous structures were prominent. The fine filaments reported by previous investigators were traceable in the present specimen to desmosomes and therefore were interpreted as being tonofibrils. A large glycogen-containing cell was noted for the first time in this type of neoplasm.

The affective antecedents of cognitive social network activation

Abstract How might peoples moment-to-moment feelings influence the social network contacts they call to mind? Three datasets indicate that experiencing positive affect leads people to cognitively activate larger and more sparsely connected social network structures, while experiencing negative affect leads them to activate smaller, redundant social network structures. A preliminary association emerged between positive affect and activating large, diversified network structures in the General Social Survey. To isolate causality, we then conducted two experiments where we randomly assigned participants to experience either positive or negative affect. Both studies supported the hypothesized relationship between affect and cognitive network activation. These findings contribute to a burgeoning literature examining how psychological states shape the activation of social network structures.

Redundant Heterogeneity and Group Performance

Although diversity provides teams with a variety of advantages, the diversity–performance connection is not always positive. This paper identifies three performance issues that naturally result from diversity and suggests a potential solution for each of them. First, the positive effects associated with diversity often decay over time, in part because heterogeneous people may homogenize with repeated exposure. Second, diverse groups are fragile and experience higher turnover than nondiverse groups. Recruiting similar (redundant) pairs within a heterogeneous group can solve these two problems but also gives rise to a third: fault-line fragmentation . We propose a different structural solution: redundant heterogeneity (RH), in which not only are team members heterogeneous within a hierarchical level of a group or organization but their diversity is matched by similar critical team member characteristics at other hierarchical levels. Thus, we suggest that organizations and teams can take maximal advantage of diversity when each of their hierarchical subgroups are similarly diverse on the same critical dimensions. Analyses of 23 years of panel data from the National Basketball Association provided a first test of the effectiveness of this solution. We focused on professional players’ experience with a particular style of play in their college careers as the critical dimension of diversity within these teams. Our findings indicate that RH led to better performance, for three reasons. First, the positive effect of heterogeneity among teams’ core players on team performance decays more slowly for teams with RH; second, teams with RH are less negatively affected by turnover among core players; and third, teams with RH exhibited more coordination and cooperation. The discussion section suggests how and why other types of teams and organizations can benefit from redundant heterogeneity.

Intermediaries, Mediators, and Market Change

One of the core beliefs of organizational and economic sociology is that audience-held expectations for certain kinds of organizational behavior shape actual organizational behavior. As a result, deviations from such expectations - for example, organizational nonconformity and market heterogeneity when considered in aggregate - that cannot be explained by forces of competition alone are often attributed to a fundamental change in audience expectations. This article explores an alternative, structural mechanism: Audience expectations are applied differentially as a function of the way they travel through the market. Organizational (and market) heterogeneity is possible so long as expectations for conformity never flow from audience to organization. Central to the proposed framework is a distinction between two kinds of brokers, the intermediary and the mediator. Both facilitate markets by transferring material resources from one party to the other. Where they differ is in their capacity to transmit market intangibles - meaning here, expectations or “codes of conduct” - between transacting parties. Having limited power, intermediaries must transmit expectations largely intact or else forego the transaction. Having more power, mediators may significantly alter the nature of what is being transmitted or even refuse transmission altogether. An application of the framework to the hedge fund industry offers an explanation of rapidly increasing heterogeneity among funds that complements technology- and resource-based alternatives. The shift from homogeneity to heterogeneity among fund products was facilitated in part by a contemporaneous role-shift of a set of market brokers - funds of funds - from intermediaries to mediators. As mediators, funds of funds were effective in attenuating the constraints posed by investor expectations and, in turn, put in motion the beginnings of a dramatic market change.

The Effect of Organizational Atypicality on Reference Group Selection and Performance Evaluation

Recent research shows that audiences sometimes respond to organizational performance in ways that seem anomalous according to prior theory. In this paper we propose that variations in the extent to which an organization conforms to the norms and expectations of a known organizational category can affect the way evaluators construct reference groups, and subsequently shape their responses to organizational performance. In an experiment on investing in and evaluating the performance of a certain kind of financial organization, we show that organizational atypicality increases an evaluator’s likelihood of choosing a nonconforming referent for the purpose of making (enhancing) evaluations of the organization’s performance. Evaluators’ ex ante feelings of commitment toward the organization further moderate this relationship. Our results have several implications for research related to organizational and categorical identity, performance evaluation, and judgment and decision making. The online appendix is avai...

Simulating Macro-Level Effects from Micro-Level Observations

We consider the fruits of integrating agent-based modeling (ABM) with lab-based experimental research with human subjects. While both ABM and lab experiments have similar aims—to identify the rules, tendencies, and heuristics by which individual agents make decisions and respond to external stimuli—they work toward their common goal in notably different ways. Behavioral-lab research typically exposes human subjects to experimental manipulations, or treatments, to make causal inferences by observing variation in response to the treatment. ABM researchers ascribe individual simulated “agents” with decision rules describing their behavior and subsequently attempt to replicate “macro” level empirical patterns. Integration of ABM and lab experiments presents advantages for both sets of researchers. ABM researchers will benefit from exposure to a larger set of empirically validated mechanisms that can add nuance and refinement to their models of human behavior and system dynamics. Lab-oriented researchers will ...

Better in the Shadows? Media Coverage and Market Reactions to Female CEO Appointments

Combining media coverage data from a set of approximately 17,000 unique media outlets with the full population of CEO appointments for US publicly traded firms between 2000 and 2014, we investigate...