Article,
Making invisible work visible: Using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration
California Management Review, 44 (2): 25--46 (2002)
Abstract
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 and 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.
