Social Networks, complexity theory, embeddedness, diffusion
Home Faculty and Research Brian Uzzi
Brian Uzzi
MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONS
Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change
Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, McCormick School
Professor of Sociology, Weinberg College
Co-Director, Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Brian Uzzi is the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change; Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, McCormick School of Engineering; Professor of Sociology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and Co-Director, Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO). Brian’s award winning and highly cited research uses social network analysis and complexity theory to model creativity, change, and outstanding human achievement in banking, law, science, and the arts. His work has appeared in the Am. J. of Sociology, Am. Sociological Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Management Science, Nature, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and Science. At Kellogg, he teaches courses on leadership, persuasion, networks, and change and has won 7 teaching awards, including the Executive Masters Teacher of the Year three times.
To read more about Professor Brian Uzzi's research and teaching, click on the Personal Page link listed to the right or go to: www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/uzzi
To read more about Professor Brian Uzzi's research and teaching, click on the Personal Page link listed to the right or go to: www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/uzzi
Area of Expertise
Organization, Innovation
(Biotechnology)
- Recent Media Coverage
ABC News: Social Networking Brings New Rules at Work - 1/21/2010
Wall Street Journal: More Scientists Treat Experiments as a Team Sport - 11/20/2009
Forbes.com: Innovation As A Team Sport - 8/18/2009
Economist Intelligence Unit: Executive Briefing: The price of a billable hour - 8/12/2009
See all Kellogg in the Media
- Recent Kellogg News
Kellogg EMBA women ‘superconnect’ for success - 2/12/2008
See all Kellogg News
Education
PhD, 1994, Sociology, State University of New York, Stony BrookMA, 1991, State University of New York, Stony BrookMS, 1989, Organizational Psychology, Carnegie-Mellon UniversityBA, 1982, Business Economics, Hofstra University
Academic Positions
Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2007-presentCo-Director, Northwestern Institute on Complexity, Northwestern University, 2007-presentRichard L. Thomas Distinguished Chair in Leadership, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2006-presentProfessor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2005-presentProfessor, Weinberg College of Arts of Sciences, Northwestern University, 2005-presentWarren E. and Carol Spieker Chair in Leadership, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, 2007-2008Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 2004-2005Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1996-2004Associoate Professor, Weinberg College of Arts of Sciences, Northwestern University, 1996-2004Summer Fellow, Santa Fe Institute, 2003-2003Summer Fellow, Santa Fe Institute, 2002-2002Visiting Professor, INSEAD, 1999-2000Faculty Fellow, Insitute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 1998-2000Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1993-1995Assistant Professor, Weinberg College of Arts of Sciences, Northwestern University, 1993-1995
Research Interests
Articles
Rivera, Mark, Brian Uzzi and Sara Soderstrom. Forthcoming. Nodal and relational determinants of attachment and detachment in social networks: A Survey. Annual Review of Sociology.
Jones, Benjamin F, Brian Uzzi and Stefan Wuchty. Forthcoming. Why do Team-Authored Papers Get Cited More? Response to Letters. Science. 316(5844): 1497-1498.
Saavedra, Serguei, Brian Uzzi and Felix Reed-Tsochas. Forthcoming. Extensions and New Results for a Model of Bipartite Cooperation in Ecological and Organizational Networks. New Journal of Physics.
Uzzi, Brian. 2008. A Social Network's Changing Statistical Properties and the Quality of Human Innovation. Journal of Statistical Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical,. 41(22)
Jones, Benjamin F, Brian Uzzi and Stefan Wuchty. 2008. Multi-University Research Teams: Shifting Impact, Geography and Social Stratification in Science. Science. 322: 1259-1262.
Amaral, Luis A.N. and Brian Uzzi. 2007. Complex Systems: A New Paradigm for the Integrative Study of Management, Physical, and Technology Systems. Management Science. 53(7): 1033-1035.
Uzzi, Brian, Luis A.N. Amaral and Felix Reed-Tsochas. 2007. Small World Networks and Management Science Research: A Review. European Management Review.(Special Issue on Complexity): 77-91.
Wuchty, Stefan, Benjamin F Jones and Brian Uzzi. 2007. The Increasing Dominance of Teams in the Production of Knowledge. Science. 316(5827): 1036-1039.
Uzzi, Brian and Jarrett Spiro. 2005. Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem. American Journal of Sociology. 111(2): 447-504.
Uzzi, Brian and Shannon Dunlap. 2005. How to Build a Better Network. Harvard Business Review. 83: 53-60.
Guimera, Roger, Brian Uzzi, Jarrett Spiro and Luis A.N. Amaral. 2005. Team Assembly Mechanisms Determine Collaboration Network Structure and Team Performance. Science. 308(5722): 697-702.
Carruthers, Bruce and Brian Uzzi. 2000. Economic Sociology and Organization Theory in the New Millennium. Contemporary Sociology. 29(3): 486-494.
Uzzi, Brian. 1998. Contingent Employment in British Establishments: Organizational Determinants of the Use of Fixed-Term and Part-Time Workers. Social Forces. 76(3): 967-1006.
Uzzi, Brian. 1997. Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly. 42(1): 35-67.
Uzzi, Brian. 1997. Toward A Network Perspective on Organizational Decline. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 17(7-8): 111-155.
Uzzi, Brian. 1996. The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations: The Network Effect. American Sociological Review. 61(4): 674-698.
Reprinted in:
Analysis of Markets in Modern Economical Sociology, 2008.
Russian Journal of Management, 2009.
Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor, Michael Neuschatz, Brian Uzzi and Joseph Alonzo. 1994. The Paradox of Critical Mass for Women in Science. Science. 226(5182): 51-55.
Reprinted in:
Gender and Social Life, edited by R Satow, New York: Addison Wesley, 2000.
Uzzi, Brian. 1993. Determinants of Employment Externalization: The Case of Temporary Workers and Independent Contractors. Administrative Science Quarterly. 38(2): 195-223.
Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor and Brian Uzzi. 1992. Athena Unbound: Barriers to Women in Academic Science and Engineering. Science and Public Policy. 19: 157-179.
Uzzi, Brian. 1992. Book Review: "Holy Theory:" The Social Structure of Competition by Ronald S Burt. Contemporary Sociology. 22(2): 155-157.
Uzzi, Brian. 1990. A Framework for the conceptualization, design, and strategic Management of Planned Change Organizations. Knowledge in Society: The International Journal of Knowledge Transfer. 3(1): 21-45.
Wuchty, Stefan, Benjamin F Jones and Brian Uzzi. 2007. Why Do Team Authored Papers Get Cited More. Science (Letters). 317(5844): 1496-1498.
Saavedra, Serguei, Felix Reed-Tsochas and Brian Uzzi. 2009. A simple model of bipartite cooperation for ecological and organizational networks. Nature. 457: 463-466.
Uzzi, Brian, Serguei Saavedra and Felix Reed-Tsochas. 2008. Asymmetric disassembly and robustness in declining networks. PNAS (Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences). 105:16466-16471
Working Papers
Uzzi, Brian, Daniel Diermeier and Sara Soderstrom. Buzz: Social Influence and the Consmption of Cultural Products.
Book Chapters
Uzzi, Brian, Ryon Lancaster and Shannon Dunlap. 2006. "Weighing the Worth of Social Ties: Embeddedness and the Price of Legal Services in the Large Law Firm Market." In Managing the Modern Law Firm: New Challenges, New Perspectives, edited by Laura Epsom, 91-116. London, UK: Oxford University Press.
Uzzi, Brian. 2004. "Embeddedness in the Making of Financial Capital: How Social Relations and Networks Benefit Firms Seeking Capital." In The Sociology of the Economy, edited by Frank Dobbin, 349-386. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Reprinted in:
Empirical Studies in the Sociology of Organizations, edited by Liu Yuzhao, Shanghai: Renmin Press, 2007.
Uzzi, Brian and Michael Sacks. 2000. "Networks, Transaction Costs, and the Persistence of Interfirm Ties: The New York Apparel Industry, 1985-1995." In Embeddedness and Corporate Change in the Global Economy [edited by Brian Uzzi and Rueyling Tzeng], 79-104. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor and Brian Uzzi. 1998. "Gender Implosion: The Paradox of 'Critical Mass' for Women in Science." In The Contemporary American University, edited by Philip Altbach, New York: Garland.
Uzzi, Brian. 1996. "Close Encounters of a Sociological Kind: Organizational Fields as Markets." In The Embeddedness of Strategy, edited by J. Dutton and J.A.C. Baum, vol. 13, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor and Brian Uzzi. 1994. "The Final Disadvantage: Barriers to Women in Academic Science and Engineering." In Who Will Do Science [edited by W Pearson Jr and A Fechter], Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor and Brian Uzzi. 1992. "Restructuring Departments of Equality." In In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education, edited by CD Martin and E Murchie-Beyma, Eugene, Oregon: NECC.
Books
Uzzi, Brian. 2000. Embeddedness and Corporate Change in the Global Economy. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Uzzi, Brian and Bruce Kogut. New Frontiers in Organizational Network Research. England: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Teaching Interests
Leadership, Persuasion, Networks, Teams, Decision MakingFull-Time / Part-Time MBA
Leadership in Organizations (MORS-430-0)This course counts toward the following majors: Management & Organizations.
This course provides students with the social science tools needed to solve organizational problems and influence the actions of individuals, groups and organizations. It prepares managers to understand how to best organize and motivate the human capital of the firm, manage social networks and alliances, and execute strategic change. This is accomplished through knowledge of competitive decision making, reward system design, team building, strategic negotiation, political dynamics, corporate culture and strategic organizational design.
Executive MBA
Leadership and Organizations (MORSX-431-0)This course provides students with the social science tools needed to solve organizational problems and influence the actions of individuals, groups and organizations. It prepares managers to understand how to best organize and motivate the human capital of the firm, manage social networks and alliances, and execute strategic change. This is accomplished through knowledge of competitive decision making, reward system design, team building, strategic negotiation, political dynamics, corporate culture and strategic organizational design.
CONTACT INFO:
PHONE: 847-491-8072
FAX: 847-491-8896
PHONE: 847-491-8072
FAX: 847-491-8896
OFFICE:
Jacobs Center Room 355
Jacobs Center Room 355
