Making Invisible Work Visible: Using Social Network Analysis to Support Strategic

Collaboration

By Rob Cross, Stephen P. Borgatti and Andrew Parker

Research Motivation

• Informal networks are becoming more important as organizations become less hierarchical

• Informal networks can promote organizational flexibility, innovation, and efficiency

• A variety of factors can cause these informal networks to break-down, such as formal network structures, work processes, geographic dispersion, human resource management, leadership style, and culture.

Data

• Consortium of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies

• 40 informal networks from 23 different organizations

Use of Social Networks

• Social Network Analysis can supplement traditional organizational diagrams in understanding the networks that are important within an organization

• SNA is a useful tool for assessing and intervening at critical points in informal networks

Surveys

• The best way to begin a social network analysis is to conduct surveys

• 10-15 minute questionnaires on information and knowledge flows between members of the group

• Each member of the group is asked about the relationships they have with other members of the group

An Example of SNA

• An information sharing network is revealed to have 2 separate sub-groups

• These groups had developed due to common interests• Members acting as bottle-necks• To fix this, the manager started a series of white-

papers written by one member of each group, implemented projects that required the two units to work together, and added new communication forums

Result of Intervention

Effect of Intervention

• Began to sell more work that integrated the two group’s expertise

• Allowed for differentiation of their consultancy from other firms

Collaboration across Functional Boundaries

• In order to develop a network in which each unit understood what other units did enough to combine appropriate resources, the authors constructed a table of the percentages of collaborative relationships

Collaborate Table

Strategic Benefit

• One of the most important aspects of SNA is that not all relationships should be developed

• Time required to develop relationships is a scarce resource

• Therefore, one of the most important decisions is which relationships are strategically the most important to develop

Hierarchies

• One of the most important boundaries to informal networks is the traditional hierarchy within organization

• The authors studied 62 executives of an organization with 9 top executives

• This can be useful to discover potential biases from top executives

Diagram

SNA After Strategic Change Initiatives

• The authors studied a firm that was combining smaller groups into one larger global network

• The firm wanted members of different groups to work together better in this new strategic structure

• Three tightly-knit social groups remained despite the restructuring

• One division between groups was based on politics, the other two on geographic separation

Diagram

Results of the SNA

• Partner informed managers of the problem• Made more of an effort to integrate across

groups• Started a skill-profiling system and a virtual

environment• Face-to-face meetings were conducted to help

members of different groups meet each other• Several steps were taken to bridge the political

problem

Informal Networks: The Company Behind the Chart

By David Krackhardt and Jeffrey R. Hanson

Types of Networks

• Advice Network- can uncover political conflicts and failures at strategic objectives

• Trust network- can reveal the causes of non-routine problems

• Communication network- can identify gap in information flow, the inefficient use of resources, or the failure to generate new ideas

Steps to Analyzing Informal Networks

• Step 1: Conduct a survey• Step 2: Cross-checking the Answers• Step 3:Processing the Information with a SNA

program

Sample Survey Question

• Whom do you talk to every day?• Whom do you go to for help or advice at least

once a week?• With one day of training, whose job could you

step into?• Whom would you recruit to support a proposal of

yours that could be unpopular?• Whom would you trust to keep in confidence

your concerns about a work-related issue?

Differences between Types of Networks

• Often different types of networks can cause success or failure of strategic proposal

• Sometimes, a person can be an expert but not trusted

• Employees would then rely on this person for technical advice but not trust them personally.

Quality not Quantity

• The quality of communication is what is important, not the quantity of communication

• Nonhierarchical organizations in which communication occurs regardless of level are often more profitable

• Two-way communication and encouragement of communication can be more important than sending out more communications from higher levels of a hierarchy

• The most important factor is fit with strategic goals

Network Holes

• Imploded Relationships: groups do not speak to people outside of their group

• Irregular Communication Patterns: employees only speak with those outside of their group

• Fragile Structures: employees only speak to their group and 1 other group

• Holes in the Network: places where you would expect relationships but don’t find them

• Bow Ties: many are dependent on one employee not on each other.

Questions?

Thank you.