Getting along to get ahead: The role of social context in tournament promotion and reward systems

George C Banks; Christopher E Whelpley; Eean R Crawford; Ernest H O'Boyle; Sven Kepes

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0257389

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Getting along to get ahead: The role of social context in tournament promotion and reward systems

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Getting along to get ahead: The role of social context in tournament promotion and reward systems

George C Banks, Christopher E Whelpley, Eean R Crawford, Ernest H O'Boyle and Sven Kepes

PloS one, Vol.16(9), pp.e0257389-e0257389

09/20/2021

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257389

PMCID: PMC8452042

PMID: 34543309

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Abstract

Tournament theory posits that some organizations are modeled after sports tournaments whereby individuals are incentivized to compete and win against other members of the organization. A persistent criticism of tournament theory is that rank-order success of employees is entirely dependent on non-interacting or at least non-cooperating entities. To address what part, if any, cooperation plays in competitive tournaments, this study examines the role of social networks in tournament-style promotion and reward systems. Specifically, we seek to identify the importance of social relationships, such as group dissimilarity, initial tie formation, and tie strength in predicting tournament success. Bringing two largely independent research streams together (one focused on cooperation and one framed around competition), we examine how individuals' performance interacts with their social relationships-their social networks-to influence their chances of winning a tournament. Using the Survivor television series, we analyze the behaviors of 535 interacting contestants across 30 tournaments. In general, the findings help to illustrate how performance and social networks predict tournament advancement. Interestingly, we find that group dissimilarity based on gender, race, and age, largely does not play a role in advancement in the tournaments. Further, the strength of ties fails to mediate between variables such as group dissimilarity and initial tie formation. We conclude by discussing future directions for theoretical and practical exploration of tournament-style promotion systems. Recommendations include continuing to explore and test the role of social dynamics in compensation and promotion systems.

Adult

Aged

Algorithms

Competitive Behavior

Female

Game Theory

Humans

Male

Middle Aged

Programming Languages

Reward

Social Behavior

Social Environment

Software

Task Performance and Analysis

Television

Young Adult

Details

Title: Subtitle: Getting along to get ahead: The role of social context in tournament promotion and reward systems
Creators: George C Banks - University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Christopher E Whelpley - Virginia Commonwealth University
Eean R Crawford - University of Iowa
Ernest H O'Boyle - Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN, United States of America.
Sven Kepes - Virginia Commonwealth University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: PloS one, Vol.16(9), pp.e0257389-e0257389
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257389
PMID: 34543309
PMCID: PMC8452042
NLM abbreviation: PLoS One
ISSN: 1932-6203
eISSN: 1932-6203
Language: English
Date published: 09/20/2021
Academic Unit: Management and Entrepreneurship
Record Identifier: 9984380455802771

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