Discussion: View Thread

Dear ENT colleagues,

If you study how entrepreneurs access resources, identify opportunities, mobilize support, or build ventures through relationships and connections, we have exciting news to share!

The Division & Interest Group Relations (DIGR) Committee of the Academy of Management has recently approved a plan to move toward a formal proposal for a Social Networks Interest Group within AOM. This is a significant milestone, and the next step is one we need your help with.

 

We need at least 500 active AOM members to sign a petition of support. Our goal is not merely to meet that threshold - it is to exceed it decisively, demonstrating the vibrancy of this community and the impact a Social Networks IG can have across the Academy.

  

If you are an active AOM member, your signature counts directly toward the 500 required. Colleagues who are not yet AOM members are warmly encouraged to sign as well: your support demonstrates the depth of interest in this community and the potential a Social Networks IG has for attracting new members to the Academy.

Please sign today:

Please share this opportunity with colleagues in your department, among your collaborators, and friends across divisions who engage with social network or relational research in any form. We want to reach everyone who may be interested in supporting the creation of this interest group. You can forward the link above or share the QR embedded below.

Social network analysis has become a powerful and widely applied framework in management research. As you know, the ties entrepreneurs form - and the structural positions they occupy - shape what information they can access, what resources they can mobilize, and whether their ventures survive and grow. From founding team dynamics and the relational conditions that hold early ventures together, to entrepreneurial ecosystems and the network structures that enable knowledge flow and resource exchange across firms and institutions, networks aren't just a method in entrepreneurship research; they're a core theoretical lens through which we understand the social embeddedness of new venture creation. Network perspectives shape scholarship across virtually every division: the flow of information and resources through organizations, the role of social capital in careers, the dynamics of interorganizational alliances, the spread of innovation, and much more. This scholarship is thriving - and it deserves a dedicated home at AOM.

A Social Networks Interest Group would create exactly that: a vibrant intellectual community where network scholars across divisions can collaborate, advance shared approaches, support emerging researchers, and celebrate excellent work. For the Academy, it brings renewed energy from a rapidly growing field and creates a compelling reason for network scholars not yet in AOM to join - expanding the Academy's reach and impact in meaningful ways.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Kristin Cullen-Lester (kclester@olemiss.edu) or Daniel Levin (levin@business.rutgers.edu) if you would like to know more about the proposed Social Networks Interest Group.

 

Every signature and every person you share this with moves us closer. Thank you in advance for your support!

 

Clay Dibrell

 

(on behalf of)

Steering Committee (IG proposers): Raina Brands, Julia Brennecke, Hongzhi Chen, Kristin Cullen-Lester (Social Network Society co-president), Fabio Fonti, Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca, Daniel Levin (Social Network Society co-president), Jessica Methot, Francesca Pallotti, Stefano Tasselli

Ron Burt, Tiziana Casciaro, Martin Kilduff, David Krackhardt, Bill McEvily, Ray Reagans, Giuseppe (Beppe) Soda, Aks Zaheer