Advice networks and physicians’ innovative work behaviour

In this paper we aim to investigate the impact of advice networks on Innovative Work Behavior in health care setting. We investigate a community of 181 primary care physicians in 4 different Italian regions. Social network analysis techniques and ordinal regression model were used to understand the extent to which the degree of collaboration and advice among physicians impacts on their propensity to adopt innovative available knowledge. Our findings document that the more the physicians are central in the advice network occurred with peers, the more they are likely to adopt an innovative behavior. Results also show that the more the physicians are connected with colleagues employed in hospital settings, the more they are likely to adopt an innovative behavior. Finally, we found a moderating effect of centrality degree in the advice network with peers on physicians’ propensity to acquire innovative knowledge by hospital colleagues. This study provides managers with new insights about factors influencing the adoption of innovative work behavior on the workplace and suggest the use of analytical tools to map individuals’ advice relationships.