When is more (not) better? On the relationships between the number of information ties and newcomer assimilation and learning

Abstract

Social capital plays a critical role in newcomer adjustment. However, research is lacking regarding the effective mobilization of social capital, in terms of how different information network characteristics jointly influence newcomer adjustment. Drawing on the literature on social networks and newcomer adjustment, we distinguish two crucial processes of newcomer adjustment, namely assimilation and learning, and propose that the extent to which newcomers' number of information ties influences the assimilation and learning processes depends on the frequency of social interactions (i.e., tie strength) and the status of network contacts (i.e., network status). To test our hypotheses, four waves of data were collected from a sample of 178 organizational newcomers. The results suggest that when network status is low, mobilizing a large information network reduces newcomers' organizational identification (an assimilation indicator), which in turn reduces their job satisfaction. Conversely, mobilizing a large information network with weak ties enhances newcomers' role clarity (a learning indicator) and in turn boosts their task performance. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering tie strength and network status together with the number of information ties in efforts to facilitate newcomer adjustment.