关键词: 社会网络, 负功能, 企业组织, 研究评述

Abstract: After forty years of development, social network has become one of the most important research fields in management and formed two main analysis paths which are egocentric approach and sociocentric approach. Regardless of the analysis path, many empirical studies have shown that social networks can produce beneficial results for the users in different scenarios. Social networks of enterprises have significant positive impacts on their governance, financing and growth. Recently, however, scholars have pointed out that past studies have neglected a series of unexpected consequences of social networks. For example, the function of social networks will change with the different objects of action. It may have a positive impact on some actors, but also harm other actors. So some studies about negative function of social networks have renewed the understanding of excessive attention to positive effects, which has gradually become the core topic of social network. Domestic research in this field is still scattered and literature review is rare. Therefore, based on the enterprise level, this paper summarizes the negative function of social network from three aspects including characteristics, analysis framework and future direction. On one hand, it helps to clarify the context of the theories and construct a panorama of social network research. On the other hand, the direction for future research is pointed out by sorting out the limitations of this field, so as to enhance the continuity of discussion.
〖JP3〗The results have showed that the negative functions of enterprise social networks are reflected in the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. Firstly, the excessive dependence on certain social networks will reduce the creativity of managers or ordinary employees, and may even force more ambitious and innovative members to leave the enterprise. Secondly, enterprises which rely on a single social network also face the problem of declining organizational adaptability including weakening the ability to acquire information, withstand market risks and innovate. The above problems and the fact that the cost of building social networks is greater than the benefit will lead to the liabilities of enterprises. Thirdly, the negative function of social network is also reflected in inducing market segmentation and local protectionism. For a single organization, social networks may help achieve the goals of enterprise, but not for the entire industry, market or region. Whether or not an enterprise is a member of social network will lead to a non-reciprocal position, and it is difficult to achieve the fairness of market competition. Horizontal or vertical government networks can build bridges for cooperation between enterprises. But if the government intervenes excessively, it will often form local protectionism.
In terms of analysis framework, the studies in this field can be summarized into two main perspectives. One is to attribute the negative function of social network to the limitation of the structure itself. When actors are in the social network, their behavior is bound to be constrained by the network structure. Exclusiveness and over-embeddedness of networks are important factors leading to negative functions of social networks for enterprises. Because non-members cannot maximize the benefits of trading behavior through information sharing, members of the network can also control the closure of social networks by their identity advantages; the role of social networks for different members is not consistent. Strong tie, in addition to providing resources, information and opportunities, also represent a closed and strong constraint, which will lead to over-socialization of actors embedded in the network. The other regards negative function as the co-variation result of the interaction between the enterprise and the organizational environment. An organization is a dynamic system which exchanges material, energy and information with environment continuously. The complexity of enterprise operation leads to the loose relationship between enterprise and other actors in the system. Thereby, with the change of organizational environment, this loose network relationship may face the problem of disintegration. The organizational environment includes not only the social environment of the enterprise, but also the internal environment involving the working environment, organizational culture, organizational technology and enterprise characteristics. When the external environment of the organization changes such as uncertainty of market demand and technological turbulence, relying solely on the original social network cannot adapt to changes in the market environment. The life cycle of an enterprise and the orientation of organizational goals will have different impacts on the functioning of social networks.
In the field of management, the research on the negative function of enterprise social network is still in its infancy, and there are still many valuable academic issues to be analyzed and discussed. On the basis of reviewing the studies, the paper puts forward four possible research directions in the future. Firstly, a comprehensive analytical framework should be constructed from the perspective of network structuralism and organizational environment, which should not be regarded as competing theoretical schools. Secondly, pay attention to the negative impact of heterogeneity of social networks on enterprise performance, and analyze the whole process of social networks’ survival, development and disappearance from a dynamic perspective in order to identify the real functions of social networks. Thirdly, a set of scientific and rigorous causal analysis methods is established. For example, the study can overcome the problem of using only average treatment effect through adopting counterfactual causal analysis mechanism. Fourthly, most of the current studies on the negative functions of social networks are based on the empirical facts of Western society. So relevant conclusions need to be further validated and analyzed in China. Future research can attempt to construct the theory of localization from three perspectives: family culture, China’s development model and transition period.

Key words: social networks, negative function, enterprise, research review