Fabio Fonti, PhD
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
School of Economics and Management
Building E, Room 2.04
Piazza Università 1 - 39100 Bolzano - Italy
Phone: +39-0471-013293 (work), +39-329-0799329 (mobile) -
Email: fabio.fonti@unibz.it
Academic Employment
Nov 2009-Present Free University of Bozen-Bolzano,
School of Economics & Management
Research
Assistant Professor
July 02-June 09 Boston College, Department of
Organization Studies
Assistant
Professor
Education
October 2003 University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PhD
in Business Administration
Major:
Organizational Behavior
Minor: Social
Networks
June 1995 University
of Urbino
BA
in Economics and Business, Summa cum Laude
Research Interests
Organizational
and strategic implications of social networks (intra-and inter-organizational),
with a focus on embeddedness, multiplexity, social capital and evolution
Knowledge management
and communities of practice
Industrial districts,
managerial cognition, social network analysis
Selected Grants Awarded
2010 Free
University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy), Funds for
research project “Moving up the level of analysis: The impact of social capital
on organizational outcomes” (€ 19,530)
2010 Free
University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy), Funds for
research project “Local structures and the evolution of organizational
networks: An empirical assessment” (€ 4,820)
2006 University
of Bologna (Italy), Funds for Fundamental Research Initiatives, Italian
Ministry of Research (€ 261,000)
2006 University
of Pescara (Italy), Funds for Fundamental Research Initiatives, Italian
Ministry of Research (€ 200,000)
2003 Boston
College, Research Incentive Grant ($15,000)
2003 Boston
College, Teaching, Advising and
Mentoring Expense Grant
2000 University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, CIBER
Center, Research Grant
Honors and Awards
2008 National
Communication Association Conference (San Diego, CA)
Top
Paper Award for Organizational Communication
2008, 2006, 2003 Organization and Management
Theory (OMT) Division, AoM
Best
Reviewer Award
2004 Organization
Science Winter Conference (Steamboat Springs, CO)
VIP
(Very Interesting Presentation) Award
2002 University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Robert
Ferber Dissertation Award (for excellence in Survey Research)
2000-2002 Social
Science Research Council
Fellow,
“The Corporation as a Social Institution” program
2001 Management
and Organizational Cognition (MOC) Division, AoM
Best
Reviewer Award
Fall 1999 University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
‘Incomplete
List’ – List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by Students
Spring 1999 University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
‘Incomplete
List’ – List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by Students
1998 International
Communication Assoc. Conference (Jerusalem, Israel)
Top
Paper Award for Organizational Communication
Publications
Whitbred, R., Fonti, F., Steglich, C., & Contractor, N. 2011. From micro-actions to macro-structure: A structurational approach to the evolution of organizational
networks. Forthcoming in Human
Communication Research.
Whitbred, R., & Fonti, F. Forthcoming (accepted). Applications
of social network analysis for understanding virtual organizations. In Long, S. D. (Ed.), Virtual
Work and Human Interaction Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches.
Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Lomi, A., Negro, G., & Fonti, F. 2010. Evolutionary
perspectives on interorganizational relations.
In S. Cropper, M. Ebers, C. Huxham, and P. S. Ring (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations, 2nd
edition. Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press: 313-338.
Ferriani, S., Fonti, F., & Corrado, R. 2010. Legami sociali, rapporti economici e legami procurati da terzi: Uno studio sulle determinati dell’embeddedness nei cluster geografici. In C. Boari (Ed.), Dinamiche evolutive nei cluster geografici di imprese. Milan (Italy): Il Mulino.
Fonti, F. 2010. Joint book review - Ash Amin and Joanne Roberts (Eds.), Community, Economic
Creativity, and Organization and Jason Hughes, Nick Jewson and Lorna Unwin (Eds.), Communities of practice: Critical
perspectives. Organization Studies,
31: 113-118.
Fonti, F., Whitbred,
R., Steglich, C., & Maoret
M. 2009. To broker or to reach closure? A
longitudinal investigation of the dynamics of social capital. Working Paper, Boston
College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
Lomi, A., Negro, G., & Fonti, F. 2008. Evolutionary
perspectives on interorganizational relations.
In S. Cropper, M. Ebers, C. Huxham, and P. S. Ring (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations. Oxford
(UK): Oxford University Press: 313-338.
Fonti, F., Whitbred,
R., & Maoret M. 2008. The origins of social capital: Dispositional
and endogenous antecedents of brokerage and closure. Working Paper, Boston College, Chestnut
Hill, MA.
Fonti,
F. 2003. One Relationship is not Enough: An Initial View of Multiplex Embeddedness. Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Urbana, IL.
Works under Review
Fonti,
F., & Maoret, M. Re-thinking the “war for
talent”: Relational stability and relational legacy as determinants of
performance. Revise & resubmit at Academy
of Management Journal.
Contractor,
N., Whitbred, R., Fonti, F., & Steglich, C. Understanding the ties that bind: A
longitudinal investigation of the evolution of a communication network. Revise
& resubmit at Western Communication
Journal.
Fonti, F., Whitbred,
R., & Maoret, M. The
role of network perception in free-riding behavior. Under
review at Academy of Management Journal.
Working Papers
Ferriani, S., Fonti, F., & Corrado, R. Social ties, economic ties, and third party
referrals: Explaining the evolution of multiplex networks in geographic
clusters. To be submitted to Organization
Science.
Fonti, F., & Narduzzo,
A. Sustaining communities of practice: The relevance of network roles in
supporting knowledge creation and exchange. To be submitted to Research Policy.
Fonti, F. Multiplexity and space: Multiplexity and
space: The impact of multiple networks and locales on firm’s performance. To be
submitted to Administrative Science
Quarterly.
Fonti,
F., & Lomi, A. Cross-classifications: An
empirical study of multiplex identities in organizational communities. To be
submitted to American Journal of
Sociology.
Fonti, F., Maoret,
M., Whitbred, R., & Steglich,
C. Local structure and network evolution: A longitudinal investigation of the
dynamics of an organizational network. To be submitted to Organization Science.
Fonti, F., Whitbred, R., & Maoret, M. The origins of social
capital: Dispositional and endogenous antecedents of brokerage and closure. To
be submitted to Strategic Organization.
Fonti, F. Interorganizational trust and the robustness of network
effects.
To be submitted to Academy of Management
Journal.
Lomi, A., & Fonti, F.
Markets from networks and the propensity of companies to collaborate: An
empirical test of two mechanisms. To be submitted to Journal of Management Studies.
Selected Works in Progress
Steglich, C., Fonti, F., & Whitbred, R. Detecting equilibrium in dynamic networks:
Actor-based and exponential random graph modeling approaches.
Maoret, M.,
Fonti, F., & Subramaniam, M. The
influence of CEOs’ and organizational prior experience on post-acquisition
performance.
Jones, C., Livne-Tarandach,
R., & Fonti, F. Word play: Creative professionals’ rhetorical and signaling
strategies.
Fonti, F., & Lomi, A. The relational basis of absorptive capacity:
Exploring the role of organizational identities and multiplexity on
inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and transfer.
Fonti, F., Narduzzo, A., & Prencipe, A. How do communities
affect work practices? Cognitive and structural determinants
of communities of practice performance.
Fonti, F., Whitbred, R., & Maoret, M. Where do strong and
weak ties come from? An investigation of the antecedents of
tie strength.
Invited Talks
Re-thinking the “war
for talent”: Relational stability and relational legacy as determinants of
performance.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA, November 3, 2010
Imperial College, London (UK), June 3,
2008
IESE (University of Navarra), Barcelona
(Spain), May 29, 2008
Universita' della Svizzera
Italiana, Lugano
(Switzerland), December 21, 2006
University
of Bologna, Bologna (Italy), July 4, 2006
Sustaining communities
of practice: The relevance of network roles in supporting knowledge creation
and exchange.
University
of Trento, Trento (Italy), May 5, 2011
ESADE,
Barcelona (Spain), May 28, 2008
Geographical
clustering and network evolution: A study on the determinants of interfirm networking.
University
of Bologna, Bologna (Italy), June 28, 2007
Complexity
theory and the evolution of communication networks.
Plenary Lecture,
Understanding Complex Systems Symposium. Urbana, IL, May 19, 2004
Multiplexity and space:
The impact of multiple networks and locales on firm’s performance
University
of Oxford, Saïd Business School, Oxford (UK), Fall 2011
Workshops and Symposia Organized
“Knowledge
dissemination and learning in communities of practice: Bringing practice back
in.” Sub-theme track, 25th EGOS Colloquium,
Barcelona (Spain), July 2-4, 2009. Co-organized with
Alessandro Narduzzo (University of Bolzano, Italy)
and Martha Feldman (University of California, Irvine).
“The
practice of communities.” Bolzano (Italy), July 1-3, 2007. Conference on communities and work practices. Co-organized with Alessandro Narduzzo
(University of Bolzano, Italy) and Andrea Prencipe
(SPRU – University of Sussex, UK).
Professional Activities and Memberships
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Academy
of Management Journal
Administrative
Science Quarterly
American
Journal of Sociology
Organization
Science
Organization
Studies
Industrial
& Corporate Change
Management
Learning
Journal
of Social Structure
Journal
of Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory
Swiss
National Science Foundation (Switzerland)
Social
Science Research Council (The Netherlands)
University
of Lugano (Switzerland)
Academy
of Management Conference (OMT, MOC and BPS divisions)
Member
Academy
of Management
European
Group for Organization Studies (EGOS)
INFORMS
Teaching Overview
I have effectively
taught several management, OT and OB courses at the graduate and undergraduate level
(below, you can find an exhaustive list of the classes I have either taught or
am scheduled to teach). At Boston
College I have developed a new format for “Managing People and Organizations”
(core MBA class), concentrating it over four, eight-hour Saturdays. I have
found the intensive format to be very effective in teaching this kind of
classes, since it allows me to focus for longer periods on distinct modules,
which bring together several related topics, and have since extended this
experience to include one-week modules. My performance has been consistently
good: I was included twice on the “List of teachers ranked as excellent by
their students” at Illinois, while at Boston College I have consistently
obtained ratings in the 4s (out of 5), ranking above the department average
both in overall evaluation and course difficulty. At the executive and corporate level, my
overall evaluation for a one-week module I recently taught at a Fortune 500 Co.
was 4.9/5.0, and I consistently rank at 4.4/5.0 and above. Evaluations and sample syllabi are available
upon request.
Teaching Interests
Organizational
behavior, knowledge management, social networks, cross-cultural management,
strategic management, organization theory