Toward the Four Functions of Social Networks:Framework and Measurement

Based on a literature review,this paper groups the main functions of social networks into four types,i.e.access to information,mutually beneficial cooperation,structural support,and resource acquisition.Such a classification avoids the issue in prior studies that measure only corporate-owned social networks while ignore enterprise use of the social networks.We develop a measurement scale for the four kinds of social networks,and test the validity of the scale with confirmatory factor analysis.Then within the strategic choice framework of Miles and Snow,the paper empirically tests the hypotheses.