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We found that during re organizational restructury events for instance merger and acquisition men and women tend to
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react differently and we found that gender homophy is intensified. Men are making more friends new [music]
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friends with men. They they focus on network formation. They try to expand their networks by making more new
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connections [music] with with other men. And women tend to focus on their existing networks with other women. So
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their networks are more dense but stronger. >> Welcome to the Ripple Effect, the
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podcast that takes you on a journey through the minds of Wharton faculty. I'm your host Dan Looney and in each
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episode we'll be diving deep into the [music] inspiration behind the groundbreaking research that Wharton
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professors have conducted and exploring how their findings resonate with the world [music] today.
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The impact of one business combining with another can play a significant [music] role in how social networks in
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the workplace develop and at times [music] can potentially come apart. Research from our guest today and her
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colleagues look at that fact specifically. [music] Tienanyang is an assistant professor of
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management and of sociology here at the [music] Wharton School. Tian, great to talk to you again. How are you?
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>> Hi Dan. Great to see you here. very exciting talk about my work. >> Yes, absolutely. Uh I guess let's start
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with the concept of networks and what was it that drove you to want to look at how networks in the workplace get
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impacted especially when there's some sort of you know strong event like a merger or an acquisition that occurs.
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>> Yeah. You know the idea of networks how important it is like everyone can even
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feel that in their daily lives we all have all kinds of social relationships when people look for jobs they ask their
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friends their family members and in organizations these kind of networks are really important because networks
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actually serve as a conduit for information and resources and such networks are not only shaped by the
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formal structures. For example, the kind of jobs people have. Usually, if they are working in higher level, more
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powerful positions, they tend to be the center of larger networks. However, there are also like interpersonal
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relationships that shape these networks. So, it's a it's a very complex dynamic
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and different people tend to engage networks differently, which actually have consequences for a lot of important
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things. And so for this research specifically, you were looking in and around the medical community as to how
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some of these impacts occur. >> Yes. And you know, I kind of stumbled on the healthcare industry, but after I
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studied the industry, I realized networks are uh so important. For example, um people when people ask when
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people look for doctors and doctors sometimes need to refer refer them to other doctors. For instance, um
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generalist need to refer their doctor to specialist. And these kind of referral networks are not only shaped by
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insurance networks but also shaped by doctor's networks. And these networks are very important because they really
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affect how many patients doctors will have and also the kind of effective um effective care
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that will be delivered to patients. So they have consequences for both physicians and the patients.
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>> But you note that there is a difference between men's networks [clears throat]
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and women's networks especially when there is this kind of disruption. >> Yes. So the disruption you are referring
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to uh is uh merger and acquisition that we studied but I think there are other kinds of restructuring events in
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organization. So going back to the question about gender difference in networks and it's very interesting that
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when people think about gender and networks they they tend to think about network formation right for example you
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know some people have better networks larger expensive more useful networks because they're good at the networking
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meaning that they reach out to people more they build a larger networks they're good at making friends but
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network formation is only one kind of network dynamics. The other kind is network maintenance. So people do after
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they establish networks, make friends, build a new networks, they have to have ways to maintain networks. And if they
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are not good at maintaining networks, they may experience network decay, which is that networks will become weaker and
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eventually disappear. So when when people talk about gender differences in networks and also the gender gap in
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resources acquired from networks, they tend to attribute this to men's better
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ability to build a networks with other men. So it's gender homophy because men's networks tend to be uh larger,
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stronger and also because men tend to occupy higher positions in organizations, more powerful positions.
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So gender homophy allow men to build a better network. So that's the kind of
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combination of notion people have about gender homophy and social networks. So what we're saying is you know look at
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network for look at network maintenance like men and women may do differently too. So there we found something really
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interesting. We found that during re organizational restructury events for instance merger and acquisition men and
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women tend to react differently and we found that gender homophy is intensified.
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Men are making more friends new friends with men. They they focus on network formation. They try to expand their
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networks by making more new connections with with other men. And women tend to focus on their existing networks with
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other women. So their networks are more dense but stronger. And this has consequences for net resources they
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acquire from these networks during merger and acquisition because during these turbulent times each woman
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actually provided more resources referred more patients to each other. So women's networks actually provided a
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greater advantage to them during turbulent times. So that's the big finding we have from this research.
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>> Part of the story is obviously the importance of women's networks sticking
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together. >> Yes. >> Do do women's networks tend to be stronger than men's networks in general?
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>> So we don't find a general pattern that women tend to be better at maintaining
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networks. However, there are particular circumstances under which women are become better at maintaining networks.
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For instance, during COVID, there has research showing that women tend to maintain networks better without
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face-toface interaction. For some reason, men's network for them to maintain relationships, they have to do
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certain activities together. They have to see each other. So women are better at kind of recording information,
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maintaining networks without inperson uh face-to-face interaction. But what we found in this context, I think it's kind
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of also explained by the kind of social psychological mechanisms because women feel like they need to support each
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other during difficult times. That's why they are lean toward each other rather
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than looking for new connections. And so that brings up the component of trust when you're talking about when you're
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talking about continuing and strengthening these networks as well. Correct. >> Right.
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>> Yes. So there is some indogenity because when they if you think about existing
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networks and new networks, existing networks presumably are stronger, right? So these networks maybe during difficult
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times or turbulent times and there is a lot of uncertainty in who will be helping me. So people women tend to lean
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on the relationships they already had and there is also like a greater level of trust in those relationships and and
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if you think about people helping each other when there is reciprocity people support each other when it's mutual and
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it also reinforces the trust level of trust in the relationships. I found it interesting in in looking at the
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research that it seems like the belief is that women's networks tend to be more
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inward focused whereas men's networks tend to be more outward focused and in
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many cases the outward focus even goes beyond the walls of the company to other other networks and other firms as well.
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Correct. >> Yeah. So I think that that might be an outcome or general pattern people
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observe but I wouldn't attribute that like what social media and the conventional wisdom say to individual's
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personality. So it's not just because women are more introverted, men are more
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out extroverted. They are shaped by social structures and cultural norms, right? Like there are differential like
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gendered expectations for how men and women should uh should act in terms of building and for maintaining
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relationships. Think about that. Women are prescribed to be more communal. That means they need to take care of their
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friends, support each other. Whereas men are more agentic and more assertive. So
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they're going out to making new connections with other people. And there also impacts of structural the positions
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impact of their current jobs, right? If they're at a higher level positions,
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more powerful positions that will help them to make more new connections. So I think the general pattern you described
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is right but the kind of reasons the structural cultural reasons that shape those um patterns I think are beyond the
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individual personality. Let me finish up with kind of a two-parted question. A and first in doing this research, what
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do you think you have learned and maybe is going to be passed on to others about
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just the value of women's networks in the workplace and how they can have such
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a significant impact on the company that they're working for in general? Yeah, I I think that's a question that
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my co-author Marissa Kane from Warden and IFA who is um a postto at INSIA all of us have thought a lot about right we
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want to really think hard about the implication of our research for women men and women for individuals and for
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organizations so our research focus on the short-term changes following structure restructuring events so we
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don't know the long-term impact yet. I think when mer acquisition happen in organizations actually I think
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if you think of this beyond not not just hospital organizations in general so organizations want people to build a new
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connections right because then >> the the units the the different the existing organization new organizations
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can like can be integrated better. I think in that process what we observe is that because it creates some kind of
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uncertainty in relationships women are actually leaning back right so it's not
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necessarily helpful for the organization in long term however in short term like
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women are able to kind of sustain their relationships maintain the resources they acquired from networks so that
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would be one thing I would say it's a double-edged this word so it's not
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universally good Um the other thing is you know when when people think about gender differences in networks where
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impact of homophy tend to claim generally that networks are networks leading to disadvantages for women right
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so that's a general notion or convention of wisdom people have but I think I want
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people to think differently based on our research which is there are circumstances
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women can benefit from networks and even the networks they have with with other women. It's not like a women shouldn't
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be making friends with each other. They shouldn't like spend time maintaining
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building relationships. Actually, the networks can become an advantage for them during turbulent times. So the
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question is more about how do you build a more balanced relationship which can provide a lot of resources in stable
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environment and also the kind of network relationships that can like help you um
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weather through difficult or uncertain conditions. Well, and and I guess to a degree, part of that also is not only
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having that network expand and grow, and it might even be outside of the borders
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of the of the of the company that you work for >> to help that firm, but also to
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potentially help that person's longer term goals of where they want to take their career.
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>> Exactly. And here we have only looked at patients referral. So, it's a kind of
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career relevant outcome. But in real life there are so many other outcomes that can be shaped the networks like our
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well-being the activities we do in our private private life and our work outcomes the other like even more
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general career outcomes career mobility moving to other firms moving up in organizations. So I think there are um
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there are actions that individuals can take to that that to help themselves. Tanten, great to talk to you again.
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Great research. Thank you very much for sharing it. >> Yeah, [music] it's a pleasure to talk
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with you, Dad. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. All the best. Tanti Yang, who
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is an assistant professor [music] of management and of sociology here at the Wharton School. Thank you for listening
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[music] to the ripple effect. We hope you found this episode informative and engaging. Don't forget to subscribe and
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