The effect of organizational structure and publication activities on

email dynamics in higher education organizations: the case of

P.Catholic University of Chile (PUC)

Cristóbal García
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, School of Business
Administration, Chile

Until now, most of the scholarly articles on organizational electronic

networks have been analyzed from a methodological standpoint.
Furthermore, research on academic networks has been mainly studied
using either co-citations or co-authorship data.

Using a unique database, this article aims to transcend the pure

methodological analysis in order to study the effects that the organizational
structure and publication activities have on emails dynamics of the
P.Catholic University of Chile’s Social Science Schools. Our results are
twofold: on the one hand, we find a strong differentiation between the
communication role of the official authority and that of the epistemic o
scientific authority; on the other hand, we find an emerging tendency within
both subgroups to generate collaborative and collegiate systems that
coexist with more hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational forms. We
suggest that the co-existence of these two coordination forms shows an
ongoing cultural and organizational change within this university-based
milieu where academic recognition is not only obtained through teaching
activities but rather through scientific and research activities.

Keywords: academic networks, email networks, collaboration, COINs,

organizational structure, interdisciplinary, epistemic authority, Latin
America

Cristóbal García
Assistant Professor of Innovation and Organizational Behavior
School of Business Administration
Director EmprendeUC
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Center on Organizational Innovation, Research Affiliate
Columbia University
1
Phone Chile: + 56 (2) 354 7983
Phone USA: + 1 347 259 2930
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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 4, The 1st

Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference - COINs2009. Edited by
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