“Brokers” and “Bonds”/“Boundary Spanners” (A8)

The following diagrams depict “Brokers” and “bonds” or “boundary spanners” (Burt 1992).

In the case shown in the diagram above, a broker bond (J. Fry, for example, in the Dyson case) connects the ego to two bridges (one individual and one institution). By so doing, the broker bond indirectly provides resources not classically associated with Putnam’s classification.

The ego is now directly linked to two new bridges, as shown in the diagram above.