Bridge Supervision: Correlates of a Boss on the Far Side of a Structural Hole.

"Bridge supervision" occurs when the connection between manager and boss is a network bridge between separate social worlds. Improved communication technology has facilitated the use of bridge supervision, so manager and boss can easily interact by audio or onscreen as a pair of people disconnected from surrounding colleagues—but at what cost to the manager, or to effective management? We argue that bridge supervision affects the way in which managers play their role, but not how well the role is played. We find clear support for the argument in a traditional corporate hierarchy. Managers operating under bridge supervision exclude the boss from their work discussions and are conservative in expressing emotion. Behavioral correlates notwithstanding, compensation and good ideas have their familiar association with network brokerage independent of bridge versus embedded supervision. In sum, bridge supervision affects manager style, but not performance. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of our findings for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]