Leveraging Networks for Tangible Results
Dr. Robin Teigland Stockholm School of Economics [email_address] www.knowledgenetworking.org

Everyone is talking about networks
National Innovation Networks Formal Networks Entrepreneurial Networks Ego Networks Regional Networks Infrastructure Networks Social Networks FAS.research Electronic Networks Informal Networks Networks of Practice Networked organization

A world of rapidly growing
knowledge …. Growth Time Information and knowledge Human absorptive capacity Cohen & Levinthal 1989

A world of rapidly growing
knowledge …. > One week in 2007 A person’s lifetime in 18th century

A world of rapidly growing
knowledge …. 50% knowledge relevant 50% knowledge outdated First year of technical-based education Third year of education

....that is increasingly connected new
friends family local colleagues old friends old colleagues colleagues at other offices Just a click away… virtual communities local networks old classmates

<ul><li>” No one knows everything,
</li></ul><ul><li>everyone knows something, </li></ul><ul><li>all knowledge resides in humanity.” </li></ul>networks. Lévy 1997

What is a network? A
set of actors connected by ties <ul><li>Ties/Links </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Knowledge, trust, team, sit by, dislike, etc. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Alliance, customer, investment, etc. </li></ul></ul>Tie <ul><li>Actors/Nodes </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Individuals </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Teams, organizations, etc. </li></ul></ul>Actor

Swedish hip hop artists Liljeros
2006 ?? Timbuktu

Individuals within a firm Mattsson
2004 < 1 yr 1-5 yrs 5-10 yrs 10-15 yrs > 15 yrs Time at firm

Individuals between business firms SEB
Ray-Adams & Sandberg 2000 Interlocking directorates of Sweden’s 110 largest public firms, 2000 ??

Networks of firms Dahlin 2007
Nocom Ericsson Telia Nokia TietoEnator

Groups of organizations (Sectors) Teigland
et al. 2004 Social interaction in Uppsala Biotech Cluster Government Inter-sector organizations Academia Biotech firms Servicefirms Financial Institutions

Uncovering networks in an organization
Teigland et al. 2005 Formal organization Informal organization

Central connectors within one location
Bottleneck  Teigland 1998 Surprise!! Stockholm

Boundary spanners between locations Stockholm
London Brussels Helsinki Madrid Copenhagen Transferred from Stockholm Teigland 1998 San Francisco

Trust & reciprocity are essential
for knowledge exchange in networks

Peripheral players between organizations San
Francisco Stockholm London Brussels Helsinki Madrid Copenhagen Teigland 1998 Other firms Electronic communities

Dual loyalties Loyalty Loyalty Organization
Professional network

Increasing job turnover Time Number
of jobs in lifetime Estimated time at one organization in Silicon Valley: ~18 months

What about performance? Firm A
High creative Low on-time High on-time Low creative Teigland 2003 High creative Virtual community Firm B

The strength of weak ties
Network A’s knowledge Network D’s knowledge Network B’s knowledge Network C’s knowledge Granovetter 1973

Two divisions within Sundlink (Öresund
Bridge) Section 1 Section 2 Improved efficiency over time Stagnant performance over time Schenkel & Teigland 2007

Comparing across firms Teigland et
al 2000

Hewlett-Packard (1990s) <ul><li>Networking activities recognized
and rewarded at individual and unit levels </li></ul><ul><li>Management support for informal and formal networking activities across internal and external boundaries </li></ul><ul><li>Extensive socialization : personnel rotation, cross-office teams </li></ul><ul><li>A visionary organization </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Clearly defined mission: ”To make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Supporting core values, e.g., teamwork </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Company-wide goal of World’s Best Laboratory </li></ul></ul>

Other network outcomes? <ul><li>Individual level
</li></ul><ul><ul><li>Improved effectiveness </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Improved job opportunities </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Higher salaries </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Faster promotions </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Increased influence & power </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Improved health </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Organizational level </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Organizational learning </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Improved innovation </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Increased sales </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Decreased employee turnover </li></ul></ul>Painting by Idahlia Stanley

Myths about networks <ul><li>I already
know what is going on in my network </li></ul><ul><li>We can’t do much to help informal networks </li></ul><ul><li>To build networks, you have to communicate more </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Adapted from Cross et al. 2002 </li></ul></ul>

More social get-togethers and coffee
breaks are not the solution

“Managing” networks in your organization
Before After Anklam & Welch 2005 1. Uncover networks 2. Analyze networks 3. Improve connectedness

When you hire someone,… …
..you “hire” his or her network.

Encourage an open innovation attitude
Not all the smart people work for us. We need to work with smart people inside and outside the company. The smart people in our field work for us. If you create the most and the best ideas in the industry, you will win. If you make the best use of internal and external ideas, you will win. Closed attitude Open attitude Chesborough 2003

So, what does this mean
for you? <ul><li>An actor’s position in a social network, i.e., social capital, determines in part the actor’s opportunities and constraints </li></ul>Casper & Murray 2002 German biotech scientists

What can you do? <ul><li>Where
do you sit? </li></ul><ul><li>With whom do you eat lunch? </li></ul><ul><li>With whom do you socialize? </li></ul><ul><li>To which communities, networks do you belong? </li></ul><ul><li>Think strategically… </li></ul><ul><li>How are decisions made in your organization? </li></ul><ul><li>What information flows would you like to be in? </li></ul><ul><li>What resources will you need in the future? </li></ul>

Develop participation in a variety
of networks Strong ties Weak ties Outside organization Inside organization SOCNET

Start your own network Swedish
International Business School Alumni Network (SIBSAN) Stanford GSB Alumni Club Nobel Laureates Government Ministers Stanford

But……. <ul><li>“ Lika barn leka
bäst” </li></ul><ul><ul><li>People find similar people attractive and develop relations with people like themselves </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Our networks tend to be homogeneous </li></ul><ul><li>and not heterogeneous </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Marsden 1987, Burt 1990 </li></ul></ul>

Go meet someone different

Make yourself easy to find
- Create a live CV <ul><li>Blog </li></ul><ul><ul><li>blogger, livejournal, typepad, wordpress, etc. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Social software </li></ul><ul><ul><li>LinkedIn </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Shortcut </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>ecademy </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Media </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Slideshare.net </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Flickr.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>YouTube.com </li></ul></ul>

Myths and reality checks <ul><li>I
already know what is going on in my network </li></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Those who think they know their network the best are usually the ones who know the least </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>We can’t do much to help informal networks </li></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Informal networks can be “managed” through changing the organizational context </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>To build networks, you have to communicate more </li></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Networks can be strategically developed </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Adapted from Cross et al. 2002 </li></ul></ul>

The positive spiral of social
networks tschaut’s photos Contribution Reciprocity Accumulation Value

References and acknowledgements <ul><li>Books </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Barabási,
Linked: The New Science of Networks . Perseus, 2002 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Castells, The Rise of the Network Society . Blackwell, 2000 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Cross & Parker, The Hidden Power of Social Networks . Harvard Business School, 2004 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Gladwell, The Tipping Point . Abacus, 2001 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Scott, Social Network Analysis . Sage, 2000 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Teigland, Knowledge Networking , SSE, 2003 </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Teten & Allen, The Virtual Handshake . Creative Commons, 2007 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Homepages </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Stephen Bird, people.bu.edu/sbird </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Steve Borgatti, www.socialnetworkanalysis.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Rob Cross, www.robcross.org </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>International Network for Social Network Analysis http://www.insna.org/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>David Krackhardt, www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/krack/index.shtml </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Valdis Krebs, www.orgnet.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Fredrik Liljeros, www.sociology.su.se/home/Liljeros/index.html </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>James Moody, www.soc.duke.edu/~jmoody77/presentations/index.htm </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Giancarlo Oriani, www.informalorg.eu (In Italian) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Barry Wellman, www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/ </li></ul></ul>

Go network! Thanks!!!