Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September–October 2015
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces

By: Jesse Shore, Ethan Bernstein and David Lazer
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Using data from a novel laboratory experiment on complex problem solving in which we varied the structure of 16-person networks, we investigate how an organization's network structure shapes performance of problem-solving tasks. Problem solving, we argue, involves both exploration for information and exploration for solutions. Our results show that network clustering has opposite effects for these two important and complementary forms of exploration. Dense clustering encourages members of a network to generate more diverse information, but discourages them from generating diverse theories; in the language of March (1991), clustering promotes exploration in information space, but decreases exploration in solution space. Previous research, generally focusing on only one of those two spaces at a time, has produced an inconsistent understanding of the value of network clustering. By adopting an experimental platform on which information was measured separately from solutions, we bring disparate results under a single theoretical roof and clarify the effects of network clustering on problem-solving behavior and performance. The finding both provides a sharper tool for structuring organizations for knowledge work and reveals challenges inherent in manipulating network structure to enhance performance, as the communication structure that helps one determinant of successful problem solving may harm the other.

Keywords

Networks; Experiments; Clustering; Problem Solving; Exploration And Exploitation; Knowledge; Search; Collaboration; Collaboration Structures; Transparency; Communication; Communication Technology; Information; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Theory; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Technology Industry; Service Industry

Citation

Shore, Jesse, Ethan Bernstein, and David Lazer. "Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces." Organization Science 26, no. 5 (September–October 2015): 1432–1446. (Won 2014 INGRoup Outstanding Paper Award.)

Supplemental Information

Supplemental Material
  • Read Now

About The Author

Ethan S. Bernstein

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March–April 2022
    • Organization Science

    Uncovering the Mitigating Psychological Response to Monitoring Technologies: Police Body Cameras Not Only Constrain but Also Depolarize

    By: Shefali V. Patil and Ethan Bernstein
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (B)

    By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco
    • March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (A)

    By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco
More from the Authors
  • Uncovering the Mitigating Psychological Response to Monitoring Technologies: Police Body Cameras Not Only Constrain but Also Depolarize By: Shefali V. Patil and Ethan Bernstein
  • Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (B) By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco
  • Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (A) By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College