Brokerage roles

In a social network, each actor who is connected to at least two other actors, say u and v, may play one of five brokerage roles (known as brokerage roles), even if actors u and v are not directly connected. The role depends on the actor's position in the network and the group affiliations of the actors they connect. Figure 23 shows examples of brokerage roles. Groups to which the actors belong are marked with colors.

Figure 23. Brokerage roles

• Coordinator: connects actors within the same group.

• Itinerant Broker: connects different groups but does not belong to any of them.

• Representative: represents their own group in contact with another.

• Gatekeeper: filters information entering their group.

• Liaison: connects two other groups while belonging to a third one.

Vertices in a network that are isolated from others cannot mediate between the remaining nodes, as they are not connected to them. Vertices that are part of a clique also cannot serve as mediators within that clique, because all other nodes are directly connected to one another (there is no need for an intermediary). As a result, such vertices do not perform any of the brokerage roles described above.

If a given vertex belongs to a group of vertices and mediates the flow of information between members of that same group, it performs the role of a coordinator. The other four brokerage roles can only be performed by vertices that mediate between different groups of nodes.

Figure 24. A fragment of an example network with node B and its nearest neighbors.

Figure 24 presents an example of a network, where the most central node is B. This node acts as a coordinator for several pairs of nodes within its own (green) group. The pairs for which B serves as a coordinator are: M–H, I–H, M–J, I–J, M–L, I–L. Node B cannot act as a coordinator between, for example, M and I, because they are directly connected. The same applies to pairs H and J or J and L.

Additionally, B connects three groups of vertices: blue, orange, and green. For this reason, it also performs three other roles:

• Representative – when information flows from the green group to the blue or orange group.

• Gatekeeper – when information flows from the blue or orange group into the green group.

• Liaison – when information is transmitted between the blue and orange groups, i.e., between groups to which B does not belong.

Summary

• Employees who link different groups (e.g., departments) act as itinerant brokers, representatives, gatekeepers, or liaisons. These individuals can be key innovators because they have access to knowledge and experience from multiple groups.

• Employees who facilitate the internal flow of knowledge within one group act as coordinators. They are important for optimizing internal communication and knowledge transfer.

• Excessive dominance of brokers in a network can lead to communication bottlenecks. It’s important to balance information flow and support broader access to communication channels.

• In companies with aging workforces, where many employees will retire soon, mapping out brokerage roles is vital to ensure continuity of knowledge flow.

• Losing key brokers can result in serious knowledge loss. Organizations should identify and engage such employees in mentoring or training programs.