In us we trust? Fields, networks, and the translation of context into organizations: the case of banking careers in Austria

Abstract

Organizations are embedded in various layers of context which influence organizational structures and processes and, in turn, are influenced by them. One interesting example of analysing these mutual dependencies is careers in organizations. Assuming that career fields that cut across organizations contain rules and regulations channelling career moves, the paper focuses on how career fields influence/get translated into organizations via social capital mechanisms, arguing that social networks are one core element in these translation processes. The paper uses the work of Pierre Bourdieu as conceptual background and the career field of banking in Austria as empirical illustration. It contributes to organizational theory and research in a threefold way: It (1) adds to the growing research on the usefulness of a Bourdieuan perspective to understand organizational phenomena; (2) develops the notion of career field; and (3) throws some light on the role of social networks in the relation between social fields and organizations by using a qualitative methodology.