Inside Social Network Analysis
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Inside Social Network Analysis
Kate Ehrlich 1 and Inga Carboni 2
Introduction
A m a n a g e m e n t co n s u lt i n g f i r m h o p e s t o w in a l u c ra t iv e co n t r a ct w it h a l ar ge
internat io nal financial institut ion. After weeks of intense preparation, the team
s e n d s o f f a p r o p o s a l . Sho r t ly t h e r e af t e r, t he y le arn t h at co n t rac t w a s g iv e n t o a
c o m p e t it o r w i t h w h o m t he c l i e nt h a d w o r k e d p r e v io u s ly . A lm os t s i x m onth s l a te r,
o n e o f t h e t ea m m em b e r s f i n d s out t ha t a no t he r gr o up a t t h e m a n ag e m e nt
c o n s u lt i n g f i rm h a d w o r k e d o n a p ro j e c t w i t h t h e p r o s p e ct iv e c li e n t a n d h a d g a i n e d
an in-depth knowledge of its business operat ions . W hy , as ked t he frust rat e d t e am
m e m be r , w as n ’ t t h i s c r i t ic a l k n o w l e dge s h a r e d w it h t h e t e am?
Th is i s ju st one example of the opp ortun iti es th at l arge comp anies can mi ss if they
f ai l t o u n der s t an d t h at s u c c e s s dep e n d s l es s on rep or tin g s t ructu r e an d mo r e on a n
in fo rm al w eb of cont a cts . In th e p as t, co mpan ie s th at enco unte re d a l o ss of bu sine s s
li ke the one d e scrib e d ab ov e, mi ght c on du ct a su rv ey an d int er vi ew empl o ye es to
d i sc o ve r wha t w en t wr on g. A n e w app ro a ch c al l e d s oci al n et wo rk an al ys i s o r S N A,
h a s be en g ainin g cur renc y am on g bu sine s s cons ult ant s as a n e ffe cti v e m etho d f o r
reveal ing the h idden connect ion s th at dri v e h ow w or k get s d on e .
I n t h e n e t wo r ke d o r g an i z at i on, i n div i du al su c ces s an d t h e su cc e ss of a t ea m d ep en d
l es s on repo rt ing st ru ctu re an d mor e on wh o yo u kn ow. Thi s p ape r p ro vi d es a b rie f
int r odu cti on t o the maj or concepts and m e asures in SNA and thei r appli c ati on t o
bu siness p roblems.
W hat i s a S oc ia l N etwo rk A na ly s i s?
A s o ci al n etw o rk an al y si s ex am ine s th e s tru ct u re of s oc ia l re lation ship s in a gr oup t o
un cover th e in form al connect ion s between p eopl e. In a con sultin g settin g, th ese
r el at i on shi p s a r e o f t en o n e s o f c om m u n i c at i on, a w a ren e ss , t ru st , and d e ci si on-
m ak ing. A s a n appr o ach t o l oo kin g a t th ese relati on ship s, SNA has b een around a
l on g tim e.
1
IBM T.J. Watson Research (katee@us.ibm.com)
2
Boston College (inga.carboni@bc.edu)
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 1M o st n et wor k an al ys ts c it e Jo s eph M o r eno’ s int rodu cti on of th e tool s and meth ods of
soci ometry, in 1934 as th e year in which the fo rmal an al ysi s of soci al networks began.
SNA became much more p opul ar with rese archers in th e early 1970 s when advances
in computer t echn ol o gy m a de it p ossible to stu dy l a rge groups. Within th e l a st ten
years, SNA h a s ri sen to p rom inen ce in a nu mber of f iel ds, in clu din g organi zation al
beh avi or , anth rop ol o gy , so ci ol og y, a nd me di cine .
Most recentl y, SNA has become an imp ort an t too l f or o rg aniz at ion al con sult ant s
seekin g t o un derst and the connection bet ween p att ern s of int eracti ons and bu siness
o u t c om e s su ch a s j ob p e rf o rm an c e, j ob sa t i sf act i on, a dopt i o n o f n e w i d e a s o r
t echn ol o gies, li kelihood of inf o rm ati on gett ing sh ar ed , an d c r e ati on o f ne w i de as.
T o get h e r, t h e s e el em ent s can b e an al yze d t o re v ea l t h e s oc i al n et w ork an d d et ermi n e
i f it i s meetin g the bu siness n eeds of th e group. Th e ou tcom e of an SNA let s u s see
w h e re co l l ab or ati on i s b re ak i n g d ow n , wh er e t a l en t an d ex p e rt i s e c ou l d b e b et t e r
l everaged, where deci si on s are gettin g b o gged down, and where opportuniti es f or
d i f f u si on and i n n o v at i on ar e b e i n g l o st. Th e da t a giv e l ead e r s t h e p i ctu re t h e y n e e d
t o c r eat e a s et of r em ed i al act i on s f o r i n d i vi dua l s and l e ade r s t o i m p ro v e
p rodu cti vit y, eff ici en cy and innovation. Th ese action s in clu de m odif yin g rol e s and
resp onsibiliti es to foster m o re effect ive patterns of communi cati on, m ethods f or
imp r oving trust, bet ter u se of t echn ology t o re a ch othe r s, re - ali gnm ent of re w ard s
a n d i n c en t i ve p r o gr am s.
How is a Social Network Analysis different?
SNA di ff er s f r om c on venti on al appro a ch es t o bu sine s s p robl em s in one v er y
imp o rt ant way: SNA assum es that people are all interdepende nt. Th is assumpti on i s
r a di c all y d iff er ent f r om t r adi tion al r e se a r ch app ro a che s whi ch as sum e th at wha t
pe opl e d o, thin k, and fee l i s ind epen dent of who the y kn ow .
Th e f ocu s on int er d epen den ce m e an s th at SNA c an ask - - an d an s we r -- que sti on s
s u ch a s:
• I s S al es eff ec t i vel y com m u n i c at i n g w i t h Ma r k e t i n g t o sha re a n d c oo r din at e
in fo rm ati on a bou t the cu st ome r?
• Wh en two comp anies or o r gan iz atio ns me rg e, h ow c an man a gem ent us e
th e inf ormal network t o spread import ant messages?
• Ar e de ci si on s in a d ist ribut ed s oftw a re d ev el opm ent te am be ing ma de a nd
carried out effi ci entl y or are on e or more peopl e actin g as bottlen e cks?
• In R&D group, are th ere en ough p eople b rin ging in i deas f rom ou tside and
a r e t h os e i de a s b ei n g a ct ed u p on?
Many t r aditional stat istical techniques are b a sed on th e assumpt ion of in dep endence.
For thi s reason , traditional stat istics, su ch as comp arin g the mean s of t wo group s,
c ann ot b e co ndu ct ed on int er d epen dent d at a. T o de al with thi s p rob le m, SNA h as
d e vel op ed a s et of SNA- sp ec ifi c st ati st ic s such a s cent rality an d den sity th at provide
measu res of int erdependen ce
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 2Why do a Social Network Analysis?
I f w e w ant to und er st and ho w a g r oup fun cti ons w e mi ght g o to an org a niz ati on ch ar t
t o f i n d t h e s en i o r p e opl e wh o ar e e m p o we re d t o m ak e d ec i sion s o r t o s ee h ow t h e
w o rk i s di vid e d up fun cti on all y. But in t h e e v olv i n g n et wo rk e d o r gan i z a t i on , t h i s
c ha rt i s n o lo ng e r an a dequ at e gui de to h ow the g r oup r ea ll y w o rk s. C on si de r the
f oll owin g diagram s wh ich rep resent th e producti on division of a l arge petrol eum
corp orati on (Cross et al. , 2001).
Upper man agement want ed t o know h ow thi s g ro u p w a s p r e p ar i n g t o sha r e i m p o rt ant
dri llin g kn owledge so they un dert ook an SNA. In th e organiz at ion al ch art on th e l eft,
we see th at J ones i s the seni or p erson in the group whil e Col e i s in a m ore juni or
r ol e. An SN A r ev e aled th at, in co ntr a st t o the fo rm al ch ar t, mi d- lev el m an a ge rs, and
C ol e in p a rti cul a r, w er e pl a yin g a p iv ot al role in th e group’ s com munication n et work.
N o t onl y wa s C ol e linke d t o m any pe opl e, m akin g him ve ry c ent ra l to th e g r oup, but
he was also th e onl y link b et ween the clu st er of p eop le at th e top wh o rep resented
p rodu cti on and the rest of th e group who were in volved in other di stin ct but cri tical
activiti es.
Th rough additi on al int erviews with key people in th e net work, in clu din g J ones, i t was
a p p ar en t t h a t J on e s h a d b e c om e r em ov e d f rom m an y of t h e d a y-t o- d ay w or ki n g s o f
th e gr oup. Hi s l ack of r e sp ons iv ene s s and p arti cip ati on in th e group oft en result ed in
del a ys whi ch imp a cted th e rest of th e group. W ithout an SNA, J one s’ l ack of ac tiv e
p articipation in th e group and Cole’ s imp ort ance may have gon e unnoti ced. Aft e r
con du ctin g th e SNA, upper man agement was abl e to consider a ran ge of opti ons,
in clu din g f orm alizin g Cole’s role.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 3Business applications of SNA
SNA app lies t o a wi de ran ge of bu siness p rob lem s, in clu ding:
K no wle dg e Ma nag eme nt a nd Co l la bor at io n . SNAs can help locat e exp ert ise,
s e ed n ew co mmunit ie s o f p ra cti c e, d e vel op cr os s -fun cti on al kno wl ed ge- sh a rin g, and
imp r ov e strate gi c de ci si on- makin g ac r o ss l e ade r ship t e ams.
T ea m- bu i ldi ng . SNAs can con tribut e to the creati on of inn ovat ive team s an d
f acili tate p ost-merger int egrati on. SNAs c an re v ea l , f or ex amp l e, wh i c h i n d i v i du al s
are m ost li kely t o b e exp osed to n ew ideas.
Human Resources. SN A s c an i denti fy an d mo nit or th e ef fe ct s o f w or kf o rc e
d i v e rsi t y , on -bo a rdin g a n d r et en t i o n , and l e adership development . For in st ance, an
S N A c an rev e al wheth er o r n ot m en t or s a re cre at i n g r el at i o n sh ips b etween ment ees
a n d oth er emp l o ye es .
S a l e s a nd M a r k et i ng. SNAs can help track the adop tion of new p roduct s,
t echn ol o gies , and id ea s. Th ey c an al s o su g ge st c om munic ati on str at e gie s.
S trat eg y. S N A s c an su p p ort i n dus t ry ec o sy st e m an al y si s a s w el l a s p a r t n e r sh i p s a n d
alli an ces. They can pinp oint wh ich firms are linked to criti cal in dustry pl ayers and
which are not.
Conducting a Social Network Analysis
A soci al n etwork an al ysi s in a bu siness settin g h a s three imp ortan t element s.
• A g r o up . Th e fi r st step in c on duc tin g a s o cia l ne tw or k s a n aly si s i s t o
det ermine the group under study. In th e m an agem ent consultin g exampl e
describ e d at th e beginnin g of thi s arti cle, the group m a y be al l of the
c on sult ant s in th e p art ic ul ar p r ac tic e. A g roup can b e comp o se d o f pe opl e
w h o a re ded i c at e d t o a p ar t i cu l a r t a s k , su ch a s a s of t w a re d e vel op m e n t
t eam or it can be a col lect ion of p eople su ch as a commun it y, upper
m an a gem en t a c r os s dif fe r ent b u sin e s s unit s, or memb ers of a temporary
t a sk force. G roup s t ypicall y ran ge in siz e from 25 t o 200. Th e in dividu al
u n i t s i n a g ro u p a r e c om m onl y r e f e r re d t o a s a c t o r s o r n o d e s.
• I nt erac t ion s . An SNA l ooks at the rel ati onship s between actors. The
n atu re of the rel ati onship s we are int erested in will vary accordin g to our
reason for condu ctin g the stu d y. In th e case of th e man agement consult ing
comp an y, we mi ght be int erested in an alyzin g communi cation pattern s b y
l ookin g at which consult ant s int e ract with each other f or th e purp o se of
obt ainin g clien t-related in form ati on. Int e ra cti on s ar e a ls o r ef e rr ed to a s
th e lin ks or ti es bet ween p e ople. Th e p attern of int eractions in a group i s
called a soci al n etwork.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 4• A t t r ib u t e s. Att ribut e data can help det ermine wheth er there are
s y st em ati c fa c to r s th at in fluen ce int er a cti on s be tw een p eopl e. Fo r
ex amp le, we often find th at p eopl e in one bu siness unit don’t routinely
sh are inf o rm ati on with peopl e in an other unit. Th e f actors th at mi ght
in fluen ce these int eracti on s ran ge from incentive p rograms th at m oti vate
peopl e t o spen d th ei r tim e with people in their own bu siness unit to
“ cu l t u r al ” di f f e r e n c e s , su ch a s l an gu a g e or wo r k e t h o s, t h at m ak e i t
d iff icu lt f or pe opl e t o co mmuni c ate e a sil y with o ne ano the r. In a stu dy o n
diversity, f or ex ampl e, att ribut es th at inf luen ce interaction s mi ght in clu de
ethni cit y, gen d er, an d attitu des about affi rm ati ve acti on. In th e
man a gement con sult ing case, rel evan t att ri b u t es m i ght i n clu de whe re
s o me one wo r k s ( e. g. co untr y, g eogr aphi c region), whi ch bu siness unit th ey
are in (e. g. sales, m arketin g, develo pment ), the ir le vel of s eni o rit y, an d
h ow l on g they h a ve b een with the comp any. They m a y also include
p e r s ona l i t y m e a su re s, su ch a s M ye rs - B riggs p erson al ity ty p e s or sc or e s on
aptitu de test s. Onl y att ribut es that are b elieved t o inf luen ce int e racti on s
are in clu ded in an SNA.
What can ties reveal?
Th e result of col lecting SNA dat a i s a m at rix showin g, in num erical form , the
ex isten ce, type, an d/or qu alit y of int eract i on s between p ai rs of people. In form ati on
a bou t the se k ind s of ti es i s c omm onl y c ol le cted thr ou gh int er vi ew s or su r ve y s, oft en
a d mini ste r ed onl ine. A t ypi ca l su rv e y mi ght lis t all of th e pe opl e in a w o rk t e am a nd
th en ask each individu al who th ey go to wh en th ey n ee d cli ent- r el ate d in fo rm ati on.
T h e r e sul t o f all t h e r e s p on s e s m i ght l o ok somethin g li ke the tab les bel ow whi ch
s ho w s, f o r e a ch p ai r of pe opl e, who g o es t o wh om f or info rm at ion.
B IL L J IM C A R OL PAM PAT
B IL L 0 0 0 1 1
J IM 0 0 0 1 0
C AR OL 0 1 0 1 0
P AM 0 0 0 0 1
P AT 0 0 1 0 0
In th is ex ampl e, you can see th at Bill, Jim and Carol all go to Pam f o r cli ent -rel ated
in fo rm ati on. P a m, ho wev e r, go e s onl y t o P at fo r in fo rm atio n an d Pat g o e s onl y to
C a r ol . T h u s , Car ol , who onl y one p e r s on t u rns t o di r ect l y f or i n f o rma t i on , m a y
actually b e th e sou rce of mu ch of th e cl ie n t - re l a t e d i n f o rm ati on sha re d i n t h e gro u p
( vi a P at an d P a m).
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 5Col lectin g inf o rm ati on abou t ties is not limit ed to su rveys. Thi s in form ati on can al so
be inferred from a number of exi stin g data s our c e s, such as em ai l ex ch an ge s, di rec t
o bs e rv ati ons o f g r oup int er a cti on, bil lab le h our s (i. e., who w o rk s on pr oj e ct s with
whom? ), p rofessi on al cit at ion s (i.e., wh o publ ishes with whom?), corporate b oard
i n t e rlo c ks ( i . e. , who se rv e s on a b oa r d wi t h who m ? ) , c on su l t i n g c on t r ac t s, p ac k ag e
t r ansmi ssion (i.e., wh o i s deli vering p ackages to wh om? ), o r ch ar it able donation s (i.e.,
w h o i s gi vin g m on e y t o w h om? ) . An y o f the se m etho d s c an gen er at e r el at ion ships
between t wo or more peopl e wh ich t o geth er can rep resent th e soci al network f o r
t h e wh ole gr ou p .
B e yon d simpl y l oo kin g a t wh o i s co nne cte d t o w hom an d w ho i s centr a l in the g ro up,
ti es can in dicate th e stren gth an d di recti o n of a rel ati on ship, as well as if th e
r el at ion ship i s dir e ct o r in di re ct. To d r a w th ese inferences it h elp s t o un derst and
some of th e con cep ts an d impli c ations of t ies.
A r e t ie s str o ng or wea k? St ron g ti e s, in dic at ed b y a hi ghe r numb er , a r e
characterized b y f requen t interacti on, f ee lin gs of closeness, and multipl e typ e s of
rel at ion ships. Fo r exampl e, a stron g tie may provi de you with emot ion al support,
j ob- r el ate d in fo rm ati on, a nd a p er so n to g o see y our fav or it e s ci -fi mo vi e s wi th. On
th e oth e r hand , it al so r equi r es a go o d d e al of en e rg y t o maint ain. Wea k t ie s m ay
n ot provi de as much soci al support but, si n ce they are easier t o maintain, you can
h av e m an y m or e of them. We ak tie s c an be crit ical for inn ovati on. For ex ample, a
r e se a r che r is mu ch more likel y to learn about a lin e o f r el e v an t re s ear ch i n an
o the rw is e un rel at ed fie ld f rom a c as u al acqu aint an ce th an fr om a g oo d f ri end . Thi s i s
be c au se g ood f rien d s ten d to h a ve a c c es s t o the sam e inf orm ati on whereas casu al
a cqu ain tan ce s t en d to o ff er n ew inf o rm ati on.
In bu sin e ss set tin gs, it is imp ortan t t o h a v e a go o d b al an c e b e t w een str on g and we a k
ti e s. T oo m an y s tr on g ti e s – a lw ay s g oin g t o th e s am e set of p eopl e f o r inf or ma ti on
or advice, m a y limi t access to import ant n ew in form ati on. In ou r fi rst example of th e
m an a gem ent con sult ing comp an y, the cl ient t e am h a d been int e ractin g m ainl y with
ex istin g trusted conn ecti on s wh o di dn’t know abou t the oth er t e am’ s rel at ion ship
with th e sam e cl ient becau se th e other t eam came f r om a diff erent p art of their
c om p an y.
A r e t ie s r ec i pr oca l? So me of our r el ati on ship s ar e n aturall y two-way. If I meet
with you, then you are p rob abl y al so meetin g with m e. H owever, m any rel ati on ship s
c an b e one - w a y and t h e d i r e cti on a l i t y c an p ro vid e addit ional inf o rm atio n. Fo r
ex amp le, I may respect you but that doesn’t me an th at y ou ne c es s a rily r e spe ct me .
In a n etwork di agram , the arrows in dicat e directi onalit y.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 6B
C
Th e t i e b et w e en A an d
B is recip r ocal. Th e tie
be tw een A a nd C i s n ot
A r e cip ro c al ; A g o es t o C
but C d o es n ot got t o A
Wh en a tie goes in both directi ons we thin k o f i t a s b e i n g r e cip ro c al . I t c an b e
imp o rt ant to kn ow when a rel ati onship i s reciprocated. For in st ance, a group will
g en er al ly fun cti on bette r when a ke y de ci si on-m ak e r i s not onl y s ou ght aft e r fo r
in formati on but h e or she al so seeks inform ati on f r om the g r oup. In g en er al ,
recip rocated ties t en d t o be st rong er th an non -reciprocat ed t ies.
A r e t ie s d ir ec t or i n di r ec t ? A dir e ct conn ecti on i s th e co nne cti on be tw een t wo
pe opl e. A s w e s aw in the p et ro leum co mpan y ex amp le, Co le h a d m any di r ect
conn ection s in th e net work of peopl e in exp lorati on and p rodu cti on. H e was ce ntral
in th is n etwork. Cent ral peopl e h ave m o re in fluen c e in their n et work, t end to
r e ce i v e b et t e r p er f o rm an ce re vi ew s, an d t en d to be m ore sati sfi e d with th eir job s
th an pe opl e w ho a re l es s c ent ra l.
A p e r son c an al so b e i n d i r e ctl y c on n e ct ed t o an oth e r p e r so n t h r ou gh kn o wi n g a
“ f rien d of a f ri end. ” Tra c kin g th e numb er of conne ct ion s it t ak e s f or one p e rs on to
reach an other i s one way to m onitor th e fl ow of inf o rm ation an d opportun iti es in
network. A person who i s indirectl y lin ke d t o m an y top lev el p eop le, i s m or e li kel y
t o get p ro mo te d th an so me one who i s not .
Th e rel at ed, p roverbi al “sm all world probl em ”, ref e rs to the likelih ood th at two
peopl e wh o are n ot di rect ly conn ected t o ea ch other will be abl e t o com municate vi a
in di re ct conne ct ion s. Due to r and om conn e ctio ns b et we en gr oup s o f pe opl e, pe opl e
who appear un conn ected m ay, in f act, be just a f ew relation ship s apart.
T ie s c an rep re sen t a r an ge of re lat io nsh ip typ es . Fo r exampl e, a ti e c an indi c at e i f
o n e p er s on likes, t r us ts , r e sp e ct s, r ep o rt s t o , c om m u n i cat es w i t h, o r ge ts inform at ion
from ano t h er . Sim i l a rl y, t i e s c an rep re sen t sells to , buy s f ro m , d e l iv e r s t o , c o nt r ac t s
w i t h o r co l l ab o r at e s w it h rel ati on ship s. Th e presen ce of a network ti e in dicat e s th at a
rel at ion ship ex ists. The ab sen ce of a net w ork ti e indicat e s th at th e relati on ship does
n ot exi st .
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 7= m al e
C = f em ale
B
A A ti e exi st s between A and B but not
be tw een A and C.
Th is di agram, drawn f rom a stu d y of p articipant s in a worksh op illu strates w ho l ik e s
w hom (Borgatti et al., 1992 ). It al so illu st rates a common p att ern ; n amel y, th at
p e opl e wh o s h ar e a p a rti cu l a r ch a ra c t e ri sti c or attribute, in th is case gen der,
f requ entl y int eract m ore with each other th an they do with peop l e wi th whom th ey
d o n ot sh are a p a rti cula r ch a ra ct eri sti c or att ribut e. In the di a g ram the male s are al l
int e ractin g with each oth er as are th e fe males with on ly two p oint s of cont act
between them.
Actions following a network analysis
An SNA u s ed in a con sult ing settin g i s p rim arily di agn osti c of th e group being
stu died. To imp r ove the fl ow of in form at ion, kn owl edge, or decision s in th ese
g r oup s the SNA sh oul d be a c compa nie d b y acti on s. Th ese action s m ay be th e
resp onsibilit y of in dividu al s, th e group, m an agement or the larger enterp ri se.
An in creasin gl y popul ar use of SNA i s t o feed b ack results t o the enti re n et work in a
st ructu r ed settin g in whi ch discu s sion can be produ cti vel y f acili tated. Viewin g the
SNA di agram s se em s to be p a rti cul arl y p o we rful. For ex ampl e, in th e c a se o f the
man agement con sult ing comp an y, the resu lt s sur f ac e d h i d den b a r ri e r s b e t w een sen i or
and junior consu lt ant s. Revealin g these pre viou sl y hid d en b ar ri er s c on st ruct iv el y w a s
a po we rfu l to ol fo r cr e atin g n ew opp ort un iti es f o r cross-group rel ati on ship
d e vel opm ent. An SNA c an al so sugge st w ay s of re st ru ctu rin g or ganiz ati on al charts o r
imp lem enting new processes.
Sim il arl y, an SNA c onduc te d on a s et of or g aniza ti on s c an le t le a de r s kn ow whe re
th ei r fi rm stands in the soci al n etwork. L e ad er s may th en m ak e st rate gi c de ci si on s
a bou t wh ere an d w ith w hom t o dev el op clo s er bu sine s s rel ati on s.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 8Application of SNA: The case of the management consulting
company
Th e m an agem ent con sultin g company ment ion ed at the b eginnin g of this art icl e
needed help imp r ovin g it s con sult ant s’ awaren ess of rel ated proj ect s. Bef o re
embarkin g on p otent ially costl y organiz ati on al chan ges an d other init iati ves, the
ex e cuti ve l ea d e rsh ip el ec te d t o c ond uct an SNA t o fin d how inf orm at io n w a s ( or w a s
n ot) gettin g p a ssed on. Th e SNA was condu ct ed with a group of con sult ant s f r om
diff erent geographi es, practi ces, levels of seniorit y, and t enu re in th e comp an y.
Q u e st i on s i n clu d e d: “Ho w aw a re ar e you of t h e p r oje ct s do n e b y t h i s p e r s on i n t h e
p a st 12 month s? ” and “H ow oft en d o e s thi s per s on p ro vi de y ou wi th inf o rm ati on y ou
ne e d to de ve lop cli ent p rop o sa ls ?” B y l o okin g at wh o was cent ral in the awareness
and inf orm ati on -sh arin g networks, th e comp any coul d see which p eop le the t e am
t ended to go to for inform at ion. B y l o okin g at h ow oft en pe opl e f rom ea ch gr oup
int e ract ed with each oth er, the SNA reveal ed th at con sult ant s who h ad b een with the
comp an y the lon g est ten ded to get in form ati on f r om e a ch o the r ; n e we r emp l oy ee s
only turn ed t o each f or m ore inf o rm ati on if they were l o cated in cl ose ph ysi c al
p roxi mit y. Fo ll ow -up int er vi ew s re v ea le d th at tim e p ressu res l eft m emb ers of the
t ea m with fe w oppo rtunit ie s t o d ev el op rel ationsh ips with newe r or m or e di stant
e m p l o y ee s.
As a resul t of th e SNA, upper management t ook several acti ons. They in sti g ated a
m en t o r s yste m t o h el p n e w e m p l o ye e s, spon s or e d e ven t s se v er al t i m e s a y e ar t h at
b rou ght p eopl e to g ether f rom di ffer ent p a rt s of th e comp an y, and de ve lop ed an
a w a rd p r ogram f o r an y n e w e n g a ge m e n t s t h at were won as a resu lt of ex istin g
rel at ion ships f rom out side th e immedi at e team.
SNA: A final word…
SN A i s a n ew app r oa ch t o sol vin g tr a dit ion al pr obl em s in bu sine s s and m ana g ement.
It assume s th at pe opl e ar e int er c onne ct ed , that conn ec tio ns h ave real con sequen ce s
f o r p e rf or m a n c e and s at i sf a ct i on, an d t h at connect ion s can be st ru ctured t o optimi ze
in di vi dua l, gr oup, an d or g ani za tion al out com es. SNA responds t o the growin g
awaren ess th at som ethin g int an gible is in dan ge r of b ein g l o st as th e m a rk etpl ac e ( an d
t h e w or kp l ac e ) b e co m es i n cr e as i n gl y d i sp e rs e d.
Th e int erp erson al connect ion s th at we on c e t oo k f o r g r ant e d a re n o l o n g e r an
assu red p a rt of everyday lif e. SNA pl aces a premium on these rel ati on ship s and their
rol e in th e way we do bu siness.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 9Appendix
SNA concepts
So ci al n et wo r k ana ly si s i s an e st abli she d subd isc iplin e o f ma ny a c ad emic fi eld s,
in clu din g man agem ent, so ci al p sycho lo gy, and so ci ol o gy . As a r esu lt, re se ar ch h as
al ready reveal ed rel ationsh ips that may be h elpfu l to p r acti tion e rs. Below are three
ex amp l e s of k e y SN A co n c ept s. To l e a rn m o re ab out S NA , ref e r t o t h e r ef er en c e s
li st ed at the en d of thi s Appen dix.
C e ntra l it y. Cent ralit y i s th e ext ent t o wh ich a person i s in th e cent er of a n et work.
Cent ral peopl e have more in fluen c e in th ei r network, ten d t o recei ve better
performance revi ews, an d ten d t o be more sati sf ied wi th their job s than peopl e wh o
a r e l es s cent r al. Me a sur e s of cent ra lit y in clu de d e g re e, betweenness an d cl o sen e ss
cent ralit y.
P e r son A i s t h e m o st
cent ral in the n et work
S oc ia l c a p ita l. So ci al c ap it al r ef ers t o the t otal sum of po tent ial o r a c tua l
r e s ou r ce s t h at a p e r son ac c rues as a result of int e rpersonal rel ati on ship s. Th is
t r ans la te s int o bein g abl e to g et f av o r s g r ant ed , gett ing r api d r e spon se to requ e st s,
o r h a vin g a cc e s s to influen ti al pe ople . So ci al c apit al m a y ari se fr om h av in g a d ens e
network of st ron g support or bein g in a p rivileged rol e with respect to oth e r peopl e,
r ef e rr ed to a s s tru ctu ral h ole (see below).
S tr uc t ura l h o l e s. A st ructural h ol e occurs when ever a person (a) h as a rel ati onship
w ith som e one wh o i s co nne cte d t o a s ep ar at e clu ster of peopl e and (b ) has n o other
d i r e ct o r i n d i r e ct c on n e ct i on with th e people in th at clu ster. In ef fect, the person i s
c onn ec te d to a di stin ct g r oup vi a one p e rs on.
A h as t h e m o s t
st ructu r al holes in th e
A network
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 1 0A pe r son wh o ha s a l a rg e numb e r o f st ructu r al h ole s in h is o r h er n etw o rk i s l ik el y
t o b e ex p o se d t o m or e d i v e rs e i n f or m ati on an d opportunit ies th an a person who has
r el at iv el y few st ru ctu ra l h ole s in hi s o r h er n etwork. For thi s reason , a person with
a l arge number of st ructu r al holes is more li kely to b e p rom oted, develop inn ovati ve
p ro du ct s, an d t o g ai n p o w er an d i n f l u en ce b y actin g as a broker between otherwise
un conn ected groups.
Brokerage. A pe r son w ho conn e ct s t wo other wi s e unc onne ct ed p e opl e i s in a
p ositi on to m an a ge or “b roke r ” i n f o rm at i on f l o w. H o w h e o r she cho o s es t o do t h at
c an b e re vea le d th r ough an SNA. Fo r exa mple , Bi ll m ay b ro ke r th e r el at ion ship
be tw een s ale s rep s an d p ro du ct d eve lop er s b y recei vin g inform at ion from sales rep s
a nd p r ov idin g it t o p rod uct d ev el ope r s but n ot vi ce ve r s a. C on ve r se ly , B ill m a y
r e ce i v e an d p ro vi de i n f or m ati on t o b ot h sa l e s rep s an d p r od u ct d ev el op e r s.
Mo r eo ve r, B ill m a y be a s a le s r ep him s elf or he ma y b e a p ro du ct d eve lop er o r he
coul d b e in an unrel at ed group, such as di st ributi on. The di vi si on to whi ch he
belon g s h as imp licat ion s f o r the role h e pl ays (e.g., in si der, out si de r, e tc .). Br o ker a g e
diff ers from st ructu r al h oles in th at (a) it does n ot assum e th at group s are
un conn ec ted an d (b) it m or e cle a rly d e sc rib es th e fl ow of in fo rm ati on.
Common SNA statistics and measures
B e cau s e SNA r ej ect s the a s sumpti on of in dep en dent ob se rv a tion s un de rl yin g
t r adi tion al att ribut e-b a se d re s ea r ch, se v er al SNA - sp ec ifi c st ati sti c s h ave b een
d e vel op ed. So me of th e m o st c ommo n a r e li sted bel ow . A c omp r ehens i ve l ist of
SNA-speci fic stati sti cs can b e f ound in th e U CI n et ref e ren c e gui de ( see r ef e r en c es ,
below).
C e ntra l it y. T h e m ost c om m on m ea s u r e o f c en t r al i t y i s de g re e cen t ral i t y and i s a
simpl e t all y of th e number of p eople at tach ed to each person. A person with three
r e cip ro c al re la tion ship s, fo r ex ample , ha s a "d eg r ee " of 3. Oth er m e asu re s of
c en t r al i t y i n c l u d e b e t w eenn e s s an d c l o s ene s s.
Bet weenness cent ralit y in di cates the ext ent t o which a n ode lies on the sh ortest path
between every other pai r of no des. For ex ampl e, if Adam i s conn ected to Bill and
Bill i s connect ed to Cin dy but Adam i s n ot conne ct ed to C ind y, th en Ad am mu st go
“ t h rou gh ” B i l l t o “ re a ch” C i n d y b e ca u se B i l l i s b e t w e e n A da m and Cin d y. T h e p e r s on
with th e h ighest b et weenness cent ralit y i s th e person that others in the n et work
m o st c om m o n l y m u s t go t h r ou gh i n or de r t o r e a ch e a ch o t h e r.
A A i s hi gh in betweenn ess cent ralit y.
B
B is h igh in degree centralit y.
Inside Social Network Analysis
Ehrlich and Carboni
p a ge 1 1Closeness cen tral ity is th e number of lin ks th at a p e r son m u st go t h r ou gh i n or der t o
r e a ch e ve r yo n e el se i n t h e n et wo rk . I f A d am i s conn ec ted to Bill and Bil l i s
conn ected to Cin d y but Adam is n ot conn e cted t o C ind y, then Ad am mu st go thro ugh
t wo l inks (i.e., Adam -Bill an d Bil l-Cin dy) in or de r t o re ach C ind y. The pe r s on with
t h e h i ghe st c l o s ene s s cen t r al i t y s co r e i s t h e p e r s on wh o g o e s t h r ou gh t h e f e we st
numb er of ti es to reach everyone el se in the network.
D e n si ty. D en sit y captu re s h ow cl o sel y a g r oup or sub gro up i s knit . It is a
p rop orti on th at in di cates th e number of actu al ti es present in th e group rel ati ve t o
th e number of p ossib le ti es in the group (i . e., i f everyone had a relat ion ship with
everyone else in the group). Den sit y can b e cal cul ated within a group or b etween
t wo group s. Wh en cal cul atin g th e den sit y of an in di vidu al ’s net w ork, SNA looks at
h ow cl os el y c onn ec te d a pe r son ’s fr ien d s ar e to e a ch oth er .
C o he s i on . Th er e ar e s e ve r al m e as ur e s o f c ohe si on, in clu din g d ens ity . H ow ev er,
o n e co m m on m ea su re i s t h e a ve r a ge n u m b e r o f t i e s i t t ak es f or a p er so n i n t h e g ro u p
t o “reach ” another person in the group. If A da m i s conn ec te d t o Bi ll w ho i s
conn ected to Cin d y, then Adam i s at a d ist an ce of 2 fr om C ind y. The av e rage
di st ance f or th e group gi ves an indi cati on of the group’ s coh e sion .
S ubgr o up Identifica tion. S N A s can i dent i f y t h e n u m b e r o f clo s el y kni t sub g rou p s
or “cliqu es” in a network. Within a clique, every unit i s connected t o every other
u n i t . The s e s u b gr ou p s c an t h en b e a n aly z e d t o s e e i f t h e y s h ar e o ve rl a p p i n g
m embe r s. A net w or k th at cont ain s hi ghl y se g re g at ed sub gr oup s i s n ot a s w ell
int e gr at ed as a net wo rk in whi ch ind iv idu al s b el on g to s ev er a l o ve rl appin g sub gr oup s.
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Fo r acc e ss to UCI Net so ft war e (the mo st comm onl y used software for SNA) and
a s s o ci ate d ar ti cle s: www . ana lyt ict ec h. com
Fo r in fo rm ati on abou t In Fl ow an al ys i s t ool s, a rti cl e s an d d ia g r am s:
http ://www.orgn et. com /in flow3.html
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