Refereed Publications Abstract

MAKING INVISIBLE WORK VISIBLE: USING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS TO SUPPORT HUMAN NETWORKS

With efforts to de-layer organizations and reduce functional boundaries, coordination and work of importance increasingly occur through networks of informal relations rather than channels tightly prescribed by formal reporting structures or detailed work processes. However, while organizations are moving to network forms through joint ventures, alliances and other collaborative relationships executives generally pay little attention to assessing and supporting informal networks within their own organizations. Working with a consortium of 23 companies over the past eighteen months we have found social network analysis a valuable means of facilitating collaboration in strategically important groups such as top leadership networks, strategic business units, new product development teams, communities of practice, joint ventures and mergers. This article outlines how social network analysis can be effective in:

1. Promoting collaboration within a strategically important group
2. Supporting critical junctures in networks that cross functional, hierarchical or geographic boundaries
3. Ensuring integration of a network following restructuring or other strategic change initiatives

By making informal networks visible, social network analysis helps managers systematically assess and support strategically important collaboration.

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