The management literature has long pointed to the role of international managers and expatriates
as information brokers. Their brokerage opportunities exist in relation to participation in, and control
of, information diffusion (Burt, 1992, 2000). Central to this process is the concept of "structural holes"
(holes in the social structure of a network that might not reflect a total unawareness of the other parties
but do reflect a lack of attention to them). Structural holes are implicit in the boundaries between
cohorts of employees, teams, divisions, and between firms. Individuals, units, or organizations that
have relationships that span these holes can create a competitive advantage depending on the nature of
their brokerage. Holes act as buffers, with people on either side of the hole circulating in different flows
of information. They therefore offer an opportunity to broker the flow of information between people
and to control the projects that bring people together from opposite sides of the hole. The research questions
that emerge from recent discussion from a special capital perspective should be as follows.