Abstract
Within the large literature on inter-organizational networks, there has been some discussion of linking-pin organizations and the role they play in integrating these networks. Based on this verbal specification of linking-pin organizations, we construct operational criteria and empirical methods for identifying these structurally important organizations in potentially large and complex inter-organizational networks. These methods are based on ideas drawn from blockmodeling, structural holes, centrality and centralization of networks, and identifying cut-points in networks. These methods are applied to a constructed example and then to real empirical inter-organizational networks. Implications and contrasts with other methods are discussed, together with some open problems.
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Doreian, P., Fujimoto, K. Identifying Linking-Pin Organizations in Inter-Organizational Networks. Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory 10, 45–68 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CMOT.0000032579.62046.0b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CMOT.0000032579.62046.0b