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A practical guide to social networks.

Rob Cross1, Jeanne Liedtka, Leigh Weiss

  • 1University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce, Charlotteville, USA. robcross@virginia.edu

Harvard Business Review
|March 17, 2005
PubMed
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Effective organizational collaboration requires strategic social network management. Identifying and nurturing the right network types—customized, modular, or routine response—optimizes connectivity for specific goals, avoiding resource drain.

Area of Science:

  • Organizational Behavior
  • Network Science
  • Management Strategy

Background:

  • Organizations often struggle to effectively leverage social networks for goal achievement.
  • Current collaboration efforts are frequently haphazard, assuming more connectivity is always beneficial.
  • Excessive or misaligned network connections can negatively impact organizational efficiency and individual energy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce a strategic framework for understanding and managing organizational social networks.
  • To differentiate between three distinct social network types and their optimal applications.
  • To provide executives with tools for fostering beneficial connectivity and mitigating unnecessary connections.

Main Methods:

  • Categorization of social networks into three distinct types based on problem-solving characteristics: customized, modular, and routine response.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of the value and application of each network type in different organizational contexts.
  • Examination of case studies from organizations like Novartis, FAA, and Sallie Mae to illustrate practical implementation.

    • Main Results:

    • Customized response networks are ideal for ambiguous problems in innovation (e.g., strategy consulting, new product development).
    • Modular response networks suit situations with known components but unknown sequences (e.g., surgical teams, law firms).
    • Routine response networks are effective for predictable problems requiring collaboration (e.g., call centers).

    Conclusions:

    • Executives must adopt a nuanced, strategic approach to collaboration, rather than relying on spontaneous connectivity.
    • Organizations should actively cultivate social network structures that align with their specific strategic objectives.
    • Targeted investments are necessary to nurture the appropriate degree and type of network connectivity for optimal organizational performance.