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Common Applications of Social Network Analysis

So far, I throroughly enjoyed everything I read by Rob Cross. He provides hands-on experience on how to use social network analysis within organizations. In his book The hidden power of social networks he even provides a step-by-step guide and sample questionnaires on how to conduct your own analyses.

According to Professor Cross, the more common applications of social network analysis include:

  • Supporting partnerships and alliances
  • Assessing strategy execution
  • Improving strategic decision making in top leadership teams
  • Integrating networks across core processes
  • Promoting innovation
  • Ensuring integration post-merger or large-sclae change
  • Developing communities of practice

Can you recommend any further applied writings on the subject? If so, I’d be happy to hear from you. Please drop me a line.

Social Media & Organizational Learning: A Lesson

Recently, I co-lectured a number of sessions on Organizational Learning at the University of Nottingham and talked to students on various programs about how organizations leverage exisiting networks and use social media to foster knowledge creation and collaboration. I introduced some of the concepts described in earlier posts, such as Ross Dawson’s Social Media Strategy Framework and Brian Solis’ Conversation Prism.

Furthermore, I tried to embed the aforementioned practitioner models in a more theoretical context. For this purpose, I used the papers by Inkpen & Tsang (2005) as well as Nahapiet & Ghoshal (1998). We explored the concept and dimensions of social capital and looked at how the latter may affect knowledge processes within networks.

I closed the sessions with a McKinsey survey which presents various tools that are currently used for internal knowledge management. Wikis, Blogs, RSS feeds and Video sharing were the killer applications in this category. I was very pleased with the questions raised during the sessions and the presentations that were produced as a result of my engagement. What a great feeling to inspire other minds. However, this doesn’t just work one way. One of the students, who used to be with Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, shared with us some of the tools and concepts they used at work. This is how we met Jessica a.k.a. Dr. Enterprise 2.0.

References:

Inkpen, A. C., & Tsang, E. W. K. 2005. Social Capital, Networks, and Knowledge Transfer. Academy of Management Review, 30(1): 146–165.

Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. 1998. Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2): 242–266.

The Nottingham Spanish Language Meetup

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that I would become more proactive about the organization of a Spanish language meetup in Nottingham. There used to be two groups which have now merged into one. We are meeting on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 pm at Edin’s. If you are interested in joining the group, you can check out our events here. We are looking forward to welcoming like-minded people who are equally interested in Spanish language and culture.

Media_httpimg1meetups_mksde
via meetup.com

International Corporate Blog Reader Study by @KingNils

My friend Nils König is currently running a survey for his PhD dissertation. He will analyze how attitudes of internet users vary towards corporate blogs and how reading preferences are shaped by cultural, demographic and experience factors. The survey is conducted in English, German and Russian, and will eventually enable an inter-cultural comparison of corporate blog reading and commenting behavior. The questionnaire comprises 17 questions, which will take about 10 minutes to answer. Please, take a moment to help Nils with his project.

Media_httpkingnilsdel_olfmh
via kingnils.de

6th UK Social Networks Conference

The 6th UK Social Networks Conference will take place in Manchester from the 12th to the 16th of April, 2010, and offers an interdisciplinary venue for social and behavioural scientists, sociologists, educationalists, political scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, practitioners and others to present their work in the area of social networks. The primary objective of the conference is to facilitate interactions between the many different disciplines interested in network analysis. The conference provides a unique opportunity for the dissemination and debate of recent advances in theoretical and experimental network research.

This year special attention would be dedicated to the history of network analysis, its link to mixing methods techniques and environment and network evolution.

Keynote Speakers

  • Professor Linton Freeman, University of California, Irvine The history of SNA and the Manchester group (an outsider’s view)
  • Professor Russell Bernard, University of Florida Mixing methods in social network research
  • Professor Patrick Doreian, University of Pittsburgh, University of Ljubljana Environments, network and network evolution
via socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk