TY - JOUR
T1 - How different forms of social capital created through project team assignments influence employee adoption of sustainability practices
AU - Reddy, Sheila M.W.
AU - Torphy, Kaitlin
AU - Liu, Yuqing
AU - Chen, Tingqiao
AU - Masuda, Yuta J.
AU - Fisher, Jonathan R.B.
AU - Galey, Sarah
AU - Burford, Kyle
AU - Frank, Kenneth A.
AU - Montambault, Jensen R.
N1 - Funding Information:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6507-8306 Reddy Sheila M. W. 1 Torphy Kaitlin 2 Liu Yuqing 2 Chen Tingqiao 2 Masuda Yuta J. 3 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5094-9730 Fisher Jonathan R. B. 4 Galey Sarah 2 Burford Kyle 4 Frank Kenneth A. 2 Montambault Jensen R. 4 1 The Nature Conservancy, Durham, NC, USA 2 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 3 The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, WA, USA 4 The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA Sheila M. W. Reddy, Global Science, The Nature Conservancy, 334 Blackwell Street, Suite 300, Durham, NC 27701, USA. Email: [email protected] 10 2019 1086026619880343 © The Author(s) 2019 2019 SAGE Publications Can social capital created through project assignments increase the diffusion of sustainability practices, and if so, what types of social ties and conditions are likely to be most effective in doing so? We use a mixture of survey and qualitative evidence from a social network at a large organization, The Nature Conservancy, to help answer these questions. Our analysis supports the argument that cross-organizational unit ties promote adoption of complex practices by having the benefits of both external and internal ties (i.e., exposure to novel practices and on-the-job social learning experiences, respectively). Specifically, staff learned new sustainability practices from project teammates in other organizational units who were already employing sustainability evidence-based practices. Thus, a practical and cost-effective way to promote organizational learning for sustainability may be to strategically form cross-organizational unit project teams that include sustainability practice innovators. Internal fellowships and short-term assignments may be other effective ways to do this. social network diffusion of innovation bridging and bonding ties professional development cross-functional teams David and Lucile Packard Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100000008 2014-40349 edited-state corrected-proof The authors would like to thank staff of The Nature Conservancy, the leaders of The Nature Conservancy’s North America Region, and the Conservation by Design 2.0 Steering Committee for their support of this work. In addition, the authors benefited from two anonymous reviewers and the editor who made substantial, generous contributions to improving the article. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Funding for this research was provided by David and Lucile Packard Foundation Grant #2014-40349. ORCID iDs Sheila M. W. Reddy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6507-8306 Jonathan R. B. Fisher https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5094-9730
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2021/3/1
Y1 - 2021/3/1
N2 - Can social capital created through project assignments increase the diffusion of sustainability practices, and if so, what types of social ties and conditions are likely to be most effective in doing so? We use a mixture of survey and qualitative evidence from a social network at a large organization, The Nature Conservancy, to help answer these questions. Our analysis supports the argument that cross-organizational unit ties promote adoption of complex practices by having the benefits of both external and internal ties (i.e., exposure to novel practices and on-the-job social learning experiences, respectively). Specifically, staff learned new sustainability practices from project teammates in other organizational units who were already employing sustainability evidence-based practices. Thus, a practical and cost-effective way to promote organizational learning for sustainability may be to strategically form cross-organizational unit project teams that include sustainability practice innovators. Internal fellowships and short-term assignments may be other effective ways to do this.
AB - Can social capital created through project assignments increase the diffusion of sustainability practices, and if so, what types of social ties and conditions are likely to be most effective in doing so? We use a mixture of survey and qualitative evidence from a social network at a large organization, The Nature Conservancy, to help answer these questions. Our analysis supports the argument that cross-organizational unit ties promote adoption of complex practices by having the benefits of both external and internal ties (i.e., exposure to novel practices and on-the-job social learning experiences, respectively). Specifically, staff learned new sustainability practices from project teammates in other organizational units who were already employing sustainability evidence-based practices. Thus, a practical and cost-effective way to promote organizational learning for sustainability may be to strategically form cross-organizational unit project teams that include sustainability practice innovators. Internal fellowships and short-term assignments may be other effective ways to do this.
KW - bridging and bonding ties
KW - cross-functional teams
KW - diffusion of innovation
KW - professional development
KW - social network
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074574509&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1086026619880343
DO - 10.1177/1086026619880343
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074574509
SN - 1086-0266
VL - 34
SP - 43
EP - 73
JO - Organization and Environment
JF - Organization and Environment
IS - 1
ER -