If Ever the Twain Shall Meet: Graph Theoretical Dimensions of Formal and Informal Organization Structure

Abstract

Formal and informal organization structure have been described as “opposing poles of a duality”—one which has yet to be fully resolved. The aim of this paper is to detail an approach to treating both structures in a comparable way, an approach that explicitly recognizes core and underlying commonalties. Two distinct analytical strategies are employed to this end. The first involves a detailed comparison and contrast of selected and relevant structural dimensions drawn from the two research streams. The second strategy involves the application of these dimensions to the study of network graphs of both the formal and informal structures of the same organization at the same point in time.