BUSINESS ETHICS, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND GOOD

GOVERNANCE
JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW
SATURDAY 5:00 – 8:00 PM PST
SUBMITTED BY: RIKI JONAS A. TAGPUNO

TITLE: THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ORGANIZATION GO-OR STOP

SUMMARY OF READING:

The article focuses on four common role-players whose performance is critical to the

productivity of any organization. Central connectors, boundary spanners, information brokers,

and peripheral specialists are the four roles. First, there are the central connectors. They are well-

known for having numerous connections with the team. They are the ones who, despite informal

leadership, are known to have trustworthy and beneficial opinions for the team. Second, there are

the boundary spanners. They gather information or communicate with people outside of the

company's department. This results in a meeting of two organizations or individuals who

generate new knowledge (Hertel, 2020). Then, there are the information brokers. These are the

people who connect the company's various subnetworks (Cross & Prusak, 2002). They are well

known for their expertise within a company, but when they leave, it may jeopardize the informal

network. Finally, there are the auxiliary specialists. They are the ones who are acting as experts.

These people are skilled or knowledgeable in a specific area. Those who work in the company's

receiving department are an example. They already know what's important, but they can pass the

information on to others in the company, making them a peripheral specialist as well if done on a

regular basis.
REACTION:

I can unequivocally attest to and have witnessed these four roles. These types of individuals are

well-known in local government. In our office, for example, each division has its own set of

central connectors, boundary spanners, information brokers, and peripheral specialists. We

usually go to these people because they are dependable at what they do. They keep the division

together while we work on other projects.

APPLICATION IN PHILIPPINE SETTING:

As an example, consider our office, the Sangguniang Panlungsod, in particular the Resolutions,

Ordinances, and Agenda Division. We have these four roles in our division now, knowingly, and

they are well known to our officemates because they are reliable in what they are asked for. As

an I.T, people usually come to me when they have computer problems, so I consider myself a

peripheral specialist. My officemate is our main point of contact; even though she is not the

Division Chief, we frequently seek her advice before consulting with our Division Chief.

Because she is available to anyone who needs information, she tends to know the entire

division's process.

REFERENCES:

Cross, R. and Prusak, L. (2002). The People Who Make Organizations Go-or Stop. Harvard

Business Review. https://hbr.org/2002/06/the-people-who-make-organizations-go-or-stop

Cross, R. (n.d.). Drive Organizational Change Through Network Influencers. Rob Cross.

https://www.robcross.org/drive-organizational-change-through-network-influencers/

Hertel, L. (2020). Who are boundary spanners and how can we support them in making

knowledge more actionable in sustainability fields? Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation.

https://www.switzernetwork.org/switzer-fellow-thought-leadership/who-are-boundary-spanners-

and-how-can-we-support-them-making