Structural Hole and Personal Innovativeness in a Bureau of Health

The objective of this study is to explore the relationship of structural hole and personal innovativeness in a bureau of health. The subjects were the employees in the bureau of health and three health stations. They were asked about the personal innovativeness and the relations with their colleagues including the director, and vice director. The questions to uncover important network relationship included knowledge awareness, access, and problem solving. UCINET6 was applied to analyze the social network data and constraint and efficiency were used as the indicators of structural hole. Of the 118 questionnaires distributed, a total of 81 effective responses were received, showing a 68.6% response rate. The result showed that the higher efficiency the more innovativeness. It is concluded that social network with rich structural holes provides opportunities for having time and energy to be innovative. Managerial implication and future research were discussed.