Ronald Burt

Speaker Bio

Ronald Burt is the Hobart W. Williams Professor of Sociology and Strategy at the University of Chicago.  His work describes social networks creating advantage, with applications focused on personal networks and the network structure of markets.  In addition to computer software and articles in research journals, Professor Burt’s last three books are the one that proposed the concept of structural holes, Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition (1992, Harvard University Press), a broad review of links between network structure and performance, Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital (2005, Oxford University Press), and argument and evidence on advantage spillover from affiliation with advantaged others, Neighbor Networks: Competitive Advantage Local and Personal (2010, Oxford University Press, which received the 2011 Academy of Management George R. Terry Book Award for the work that most advanced management knowledge in the last two years).  Professor Burt’s college work at Johns Hopkins University included pre-medical training, physiological psychology, and behavioral science.  He graduated from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in sociology, then was on the faculty at the University of California Berkeley, SUNY Albany, and Columbia University before returning to the University of Chicago in 1993.  In 1999, he began a leave of absence to learn more about European business as the Shell Professor of Human Resources at INSEAD.  In 2000, he began a leave of absence to learn more about practical implementation as the Vice President of Strategic Learning in Raytheon Company.  In 2009, he began as an International Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation, and began serving on the International Scholarly Advisory Committee at Xi’an Jiaotong University’s Institute for Empirical Social Science Research.

Ronald Burt是芝加哥大学社会学与运筹学Hobart W. Williams讲座教授。他主要致力于研究网络带来的竞争优势，关注个体的社会网络及市场的网络结构。Burt教授除了编写计算机软件程序及发表期刊论文外，近期出版了三本著作：一是《结构洞：竞争的社会结构》（哈佛大学出版社1992年出版），该书提出了著名的“结构洞”概念；二是《开放与闭合：社会资本引论》（牛津大学出版社2005年出版），该书全面回顾了网络结构影响绩效的相关研究；三是《邻里网络：社区与人际竞争优势》（牛津大学出版社2010年出版），该书讨论了与拥有竞争优势的人建立网络所引发的竞争溢出效应，荣获2011年管理学会“George R. Terry著作奖”。Burt教授曾在John Hopkins大学学习医学、生理心理学和行为科学，后来在芝加哥大学获得社会学博士学位，曾先后任教于加州大学伯克利分校、纽约州立大学奥本尼分校和哥伦比亚大学，并于1993年回到芝加哥大学。1999年，他在INSEAD出任人力资源管理教授，学习欧洲商业知识。2000年，他出任Raytheon公司战略学习副总裁，以积累商业实践经验。2009年，他成为牛津大学企业声望研究中心的国际研究员，以及西安交通大学实证社会科学研究所国际研究员。

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, many people in China built businesses that provided great wealth.  Many more people tried, but failed.  Social networks are a key factor distinguishing those who succeed from those who fail. Using extensive data on Chinese entrepreneurs and managers in the U.S. and Europe, I describe recent developments in understanding how social networks create advantage.

过去三十年，很多中国人通过创业获得了大量的财富，但是有些创业者以失败告终。区分成功者与失败者的一个关键因素是“社会网络”。基于中国企业家和欧美经理人的比较分析，我讨论社会网络如何在创新性活动中创造竞争优势。