In today's class, we focus on creativity, innovation and the exploitation of knowledge. A key feature of organizations is that knowledge is distributed. This is efficient, because not everyone has be an expert on everything. But it also means the organization needs to know where the knowledge is located in order to make use of it, and needs to be able to share it when needed.
Today's class will feature not one, but two guest speakers. Rob Cross will join us virtually to share his experiences working with a variety of companies that are applying social network analysis. Previously of the University of Virginia, Rob is joining Babson College in January. To see the kinds of organizations he works with, take a look at the participants at his consortium events (click here, then select the Participating Organization's tab).
Also, by total coincidence, one of Rob's frequent co-authors, Andrew Parker, has just come into town and will present some recent academic work on the middle-managers' use of networks for problem solving. Andrew's email is <anparker2010@gmail.com>. He welcomes all questions about doing network analyses in real organizations.
Readings
Borgatti, S.P. and Cross, R. 2003. A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks. Management Science. 49(4):432-445.[pdf]
Videos
Slides
Subgroupsb.pdf
robcrosspresentation.pdf
andrewparkerpresentation.pdf
Recommended
Cross, R., Parker, A., Christensen, C.M., Anthony, S.D. and Roth, E.A., 2004. The hidden power of social networks. Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries, Incorporated.