The Meaning of Success : Network Position and the Social Construction of Project Outcomes in an R&D Lab

How does social network position affect project managers' perceptions of success or failure? We analyze the networks of project managers in an R&D lab of a Fortune 500 company to investigate how the extent and type of centrality shape the narratives they tell about the outcomes of six technologically innovative projects. Interpretive flexibility in the meaning of success occurs more often among managers who are more central, and have access to a greater variety of information through their network ties. There is a lack of symmetry in discussion of project outcomes; managers more often discuss success than failure, and use a greater variety of narratives to talk about success. The results confirm the innovation management literature that emphasizes the multidimensionality of R&D success, and extends the embeddedness perspective on the social context of organizational behavior. Not only do social ties affect the information to which managers have access, but networks also shape their perspectives on the outcomes of innovative projects