Table 2.

The Perspectives Compared

	Economic Perspective	Organizational Perspective	Interactionist Perspective
HOW RESEARCH CONCEPTUALIZES RELATIONS
Ontological position	Probabilism	Instrumentalism	Interactionism
HOW RELATIONS ARE DEPLOYED IN ORGANIZATIONS
Typical relations	Transactions	Connections/ties/contacts	Personal interactions
Typical parties implicated	TMT members or directors and outsiders (other firms TMT members and directors)	TMT members, directors, employees, and their network ties	Individuals working together
Relational impetus	Distrust of others	Achievement	Social forces and collective action
Purpose of mechanisms	To negotiate (manage uncertainty: To safeguard organizational interests against external threats)	To leverage (create value: To leverage individual capital and rearrange it into organizational assets)	To construct (shape meaning: To shape collective action via ongoing interactions that are defined by external forces/norms)
Relations focused on	Risks	Capabilities	Practices