ABSTRACT
I get by with a little help from my friends (de Graaf and Flap, 1988). Having friends in important places is surely a useful thing, and one of the important changes in network analysis is the attention to the fact that people do not just have networks but actively build networks (Kaplan, 1984; Grieco, 1987). Ties are social resources, a network is social capital (Ben-Porath, 1980; Flap, 1988; Coleman, 1990; Burt, 1992). My social capital will provide me with important information, help me in need, get me favorable treatment, etc. There are stories abound how businessmen invite each other to expensive dinners, keep track of social events, like birthdays and quite generally invest in befriending those business partners whose trust they need most. Casson (1991, p. 20) speaks of "the engineering of trust". Heimer (1992, p. 143) even argues that organizational life is much about helping your friends and that rejations in organizations are among named individuals who know one another as particular others.
