Post on 27-Apr-2015
B U S I N E S S N E T W O R K I N G : M A N A G I N G S O C I A L N E T W O R K S F O R B U S I N E S S S U C C E S S
COURSE OVERVIEW
Nobody succeeds alone. In most life situations, things we do require the cooperation of a wide variety of people. Our relationships and social network, being the totality of our relationships, are central to the effectiveness and success of our actions. Naturally, most of us acknowledge that social networks are important when it comes to what gets done in organizations. But do we know exactly how our network impacts the outcome of our work? Managers often believe that network effectiveness depends on the number and the quality of their immediate contacts. In reality, it is more important to take a closer look at the pattern of direct and indirect relationships among these contacts: it is the people you know and the connections to people whom you do not know (yet!) that give you access to resources and getting things done. The social network with its distinctive nature of relationships, structure, and resources is the social capital which can be utilized to enhance the competitive advantage of individuals and organizations.
Given the importance of social networks and their sometime counter-intuitive influence on business effectiveness, the main objective of this course is to introduce concepts and findings in the areas of social capital and social network analysis in order to advance students’ understanding on how to effectively manage network relations and structures to achieve success in business.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To appreciate the direct and indirect impact of social networks in social and business affairs
2. To understand how to measure characteristics of social networks and assess the social capital that associates with difference structures of social network
3. To understand the different strategies to build the network of social relationships that constitute an individual’s social network/capital
4. To apply the ideas of social network in business such as entrepreneurship, organizational innovation, and social media marketing
5. To understand and analyze “intra” and “inter” organizational relations from a network perspective
6. To understand the economic and political implications of the networks that link businesses, families and political organizations.
COURSE OUTLINE
PART 1: GENERAL THEORIES OF SOCIAL NETWORKSSession 1. Introduction of network theorySession 2. Introduction to Social Capital & Social Network Analysis
PART 2: ARCHITECTURE OF SOCIAL NETWORKSSession 3. Building effective social networksSession 4. The architecture of social network – Closure and Brokerage
PART 3: NETWORK STRATEGIESSession 5. Applications of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in business & managementSession 6. Managing inter-organizational relations Session 7. Understanding and using virtual networks – social mediaSession 8. Social networks and entrepreneurship
PART 4: NETWORKS OF CAPITAL & POWERSession 9. The social and institutional dimensions of social networks – Interlocking directorate
studiesSession 10. The Network Economy: Business Groups in Asia
COURSE RUNDOWN
Teaching Dates/session
Topics and activities
Day ONE
AM
Discussion: Introduction to network theory in general
Activity: Video on the discovery of network theory
Reading: Small World Networks and Management Science Research
Day ONE
PM
Discussion: Introduction to Social Capital Theory and Social Network Analysis
Activity: Practical on Social Network Analysis using UCINET
Reference: UCINET User Guide
Day TWO
AM
Discussion: Building effective networks
Activity: Video on the Science of Persuasion
Readings: (a) Harnessing the Science of Persuasion (b) Improving the Quality of Conversation (c) On the Intricacies of Chinese Guanxi
Day TWO
PM
Discussion: The architecture of social networks – Brokerage and Closure
Case Study: Heidi Roizen (please check out her web-site too) Reference: The Network Structure of Social Capital - #1 download from the Web in ‘List of further Readings’
Readings: (a) How Leaders Create and Use Networks (b) How to Build your Networks
Day THREE
AM
Discussion: Application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) on Business and Management
Activity: Demonstration of actual application of SNA in business and in class
Readings: (a) How to invest in Social Capital (b) Better Sales Network
Day THREE
PM
Discussion: Managing inter-organizational relations
Case Study: Proactive Medicare
Reading: Finding, Forming and Performing: Creating Networks for Discontinuous Innovation
Day FOUR
AM
Discussion: Virtual networks – Social dimension of doing business online Activity: (a) Video on Social Media (b) Social Media exercise
References: (a) Book – Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed By Social Technologies
Day FOUR
PM
Discussion: Social Network and Entrepreneurship
Activity: case study on The Entrepreneur’s Network as a Source of Resources
References: to be distributed
Day FIVE
AM
Discussion: The social and institutional dimensions of social networks - Interlocking directorate studies
Activity: (a)Video on Network Governance (b) Demonstration of Interlocking Directorates Networks
Reading: Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China
Day FIVE
PM
Discussion: The Network Economy – Business Groups in Asia
Activity: Presentation of End-of Term Project plan
Reading: *Global Strategies Lessons from Japanese and Korean Business Groups
FORMAT AND TEACHING METHODS
The course will be highly interactive and consists of a mix of case studies, video presentations, in-class discussions of current research and practice, self-assessment exercises, and short in-class projects. A final course project will ask student to apply what they learned during the course in a real-life situation.
A course-pack of required readings and cases will be provided to students before the course starts.
PRE-REQUISITES AND INPUT REQUIRED
There are no pre-requisites for attending this course. However, students will be required to bring their notebooks to all sessions and to install 60-day trial versions of UCINET and NETDRAW software packages for social network analysis before the first session. The software can be downloaded here: http://www.analytictech.com/downloaduc6.htm. Students will be required to learn the basic use of the software in order to carry out course projects.
Students may also like to browse the website www.orgnet.com.
ASSIGNMENTS
There will be three types of assignments to complete during the course:
1. End- of-Course INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP project
Students, individually or in small groups, will apply network analysis concepts and techniques for the explanation of management/business phenomenon and/or identification of business opportunities and applications in real-life situations. These situations could include the relationships in their personal life/career, the work and social organizations they are affiliated with and the actual network of business relations of their companies/organizations. The students may also use databases given by the instructors or acquired/generated by them.
Students may choose one of the following projects
a. Identify the social network of a key group(s) of employees/individuals (e.g. the top management team or project teams) in an organization by administering a network
analysis questionnaire. Discuss the management issues that could be understood and/or resolved by a review of and/or action on the social network.
b. Promote a product/business/social cause with the use of not less than 4 social media. (You have to identify and/or make assumptions about the ‘technographic’ profile of the media users.)
c. Analysis of social capital or power of business and social organizations using the position/resource generator or archival data.
2. Short in-class GROUP projects
There will be 2-3 short group projects for students to work on during the class. These may include: (i) assessment of individual’s and the student team’s social capital; (ii) creating entrepreneurial and/or business application with of on-line social networking tools and (iii) analysis of network data from a database. ONLY ONE of these will be assessed
3. Case studies
There will be THREE full-length case studies. Each student team is required to prepare an analysis report for each case study before class discussion.
ASSESSMENT
- Case analysis reports (group) 30%
- Short in-class projects (group) 10%
- Course project (individual or group) 40%
- Contribution to class discussion (individual) 20%
- Total 100%
ASSIGNMENT EVALUATION CRITERIA
C – Assignment reflects the student(s) barely understands the basic concepts
B – Assignment reflects the student(s) understand the basic concepts; is able to present them in his/her own words logically and apply them in real-life situation realistically; with original thinking and critical analysis
A – All of B above AND with substantial and convincing original thinking and critical analysis