Abstract
Using the “Research on Personal Networks and Work Motivations of Advanced Info-Communication Technology-Company Employees” (1998) data, we analyzed the relationship between employees' personal networks and work attitude and motivation.
We confirmed : 1) that employees distinguish their discussion networks and information-exchange networks; and 2) that different structural properties affect employees' work attitude and motivation. Our findings suggest that employees' work attitude and motivation significantly correlate with the proportion of present supervisors and subordinates in discussion networks and with the size of the information exchange networks. It was also revealed that the network of an employee with a good work attitude and high motivation was characterized with the high proportion of formal ties in discussion networks and the large size of the information-exchange networks.
The difference is due to the fact that discussion networks are composed of non-reciprocal relations while information exchange networks are composed of reciprocal ties. In order to avoid constraint from non-reciprocal relations, employees with a good work attitude prefer discussion networks composed of formal ties. As an information-exchange network, which is a network of reciprocity, does not pose any constraint on its holder, only the size of the information-exchange network positively affects an employees' work attitude and motivation.
