Meaning in organizational networks: From social to digital and back

In this essay, we argue that understanding of meaning in relation to
organizational networks warrants a more prominent place in organizational
theorizing, because it fulfils a distinct role in the emergence and
evolution of networks. Whereas prior studies have tended to address
network structures or narrative structures, we suggest that organizational
processes might be better understood when addressing the role
of meaning and network structures simultaneously. We explain the
implications of our argument in an online context, given the growing
significance of digitally enabled networks on organizational sociality,
and draw on examples in the context of organizational knowledge
sharing to support our argument. We conclude by introducing a communication
flow model to support the further development of research on
organizational meaning networks.