SCANCOR at the Weatherhead Center Seminar
Date and Time
Location
Contingency Effects of National Culture and Institutions on How Social Networks Influence Individual Creativity
Presenter
- Carl F. Fey, Visiting Scholar, SCANCOR at the Weatherhead Center (fall 2026). Professor, Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, BI Norwegian Business School.
Moderator
- Jocelyn Viterna, Codirector, SCANCOR at the Weatherhead Center; Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar. Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology; Chair, Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University.
Contact
Diana Ocampo Belloso
dianaocampobelloso@wcfia.harvard.edu
Abstract
Co-authors: Robin Teigland, Chalmers University; Song Wang, Zhejiang University; Yun-Yun Chen, Peking University.
While the role of social networks in organizations has received considerable attention, researchers have paid less attention to how national culture and institutional differences across countries influence how networks work. To help fill this gap, in this paper we examine how a host country’s national cultural and institutional context impact the relationship between an individual’s social network (ties and position) and creativity in a multinational organization. Hypotheses are tested using hierarchical level modeling using unique sociocentric data from one multinational organization of 1698 individuals (1436 respondents) in 28 subsidiaries in 17 countries around the world. Results suggest that national culture (uncertainty avoidance and individualism) and institutional context (regulative institutions) significantly impact this relationship. For example, we find that the strength of regulatory institutions in a host country moderates the relationship between structural holes and individual creativity such that being in a strong regulative institutional country facilitates creativity for individuals who bridge structural holes in the multinational. Our findings call into question the ability to generalize social network theories across different macro-contexts.
Bio
Dr. Carl F. Fey is a Professor of Strategy at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway and a Visiting Scholar at SCANCOR at the Weatherhead Center at Harvard University. Previously he was Dean of Nottingham University Business School China and led it through a substantial period of change and upgrading. He has also been a Professor at Aalto University and Stockholm School of Economics where among other things he helped start and lead the development of a branch campus in Russia. Fey is an elected fellow of the Academy of International Business and is recipient of the 2013 Journal of International Business Studies Decade Award. Fey is an expert in international business, innovation, leadership, knowledge transfer, organizational culture, virtual work, internationalization, and international mergers and acquisitions. Professor Fey’s work helps firms to understand which management practices can help increase organizational effectiveness in today’s increasingly dynamic and international world taking into account the future of work and cultural/institutional differences between countries. Professor Fey has a special interest in understanding what practices works well in China. Fey is a highly sought-after executive educator, consultant, and public speaker (for example, he is a frequent speaker at Boao Forum and similar events) and also frequently in the media (for example, last year he had over 200 appearances including republishing in the Chinese media alone. For a sample media appearance, see Fey on CGTN's business/economics talkshow talking about his innovation research.