The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Andrew Parker (Author), Rob Cross (Author) "Yet it's not always easy to know what is going on in these large, distributed, and seemingly invisible groups..." (more)
Key Phrases: critical disconnects, using social network analysis, central connectors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

That organizational charts rarely describe functional hierarchy is obvious to any employee who’s ever tried to adhere to one. Instead, survival often depends on incorporating oneself into unofficial social networks that allow one to gain access to necessary information and to collaborate with the colleagues who can actually get things done. In this dense but useful volume, Cross and Parker-both consultants with IBM’s Knowledge and Organizational Performance Forum-give readers insight into how such unofficial networks form and function. They also share their methodology for rendering these basically unseen networks visible to managers. By literally mapping information flow and collaboration patterns among the people who make up a department or firm, they can pinpoint individual bottlenecks, essential employees and those who have been pushed to the periphery or whose expertise is underutilized. Their analysis enables managers to adapt their strategies to exploit and support these now visible networks and improve overall productivity. Rather than using their book as a forum to garner new consulting business-with a ‘kids don’t try this at home’ approach-they encourage readers to pursue network analysis at their own organizations by arming them with step-by-step instructions through two appendixes. The authors present their material in the nitty-gritty style of an evening business course, with lots of charts and examples. They take their mission of arming managers with a substantive strategic tool very seriously. In this way, theirs is unlike many management books that are high on concept and lacking in application-Cross and Parker provide a guide that is directly applicable to improving the functionality of any organization.
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Review

"Cross and Parker offer managers suggestions for improving their organizations' social networks." -- CIO Magazine, June 1, 2004

"When networks organize themselves, they can drain coordination, learning and performance. The solution...is to make the network visible." -- Time Magazine, June 21, 2004

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press (June 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591392705
• ISBN-13: 978-1591392705
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,500 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and practical, May 12, 2004

By	Patricia Anklam (Harvard, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Hidden Power of Social Networks provides the most complete treatment of the subject of applying the understanding of social networks to organizations as you will find. It includes the insights from the many, many cases that the authors facilitated and it provides insight into the methodology itself. As such, it is a good book for both executives who have had inklings that there is something useful for them in all this "social network" hype, and for HR/organizational development specialists and consultants who want to understand the nuts and bolts of the method.

In recent years we saw (and I read) half a dozen books on the emerging science of networks (Linked, Six Degrees of Separation; from the management consulting Nexus, Living Networks); the language of The Tipping Point tipped into the vernacular; and social networking sites (LinkedIn™, tribe.net, Spoke, VisualPath) climbed the "hype cycle" by promising value in gaining access to powerful people just three degrees away. The jury is still out on the latter, but the genie is out of the bottle: organizations and individuals are making the shift to an understanding that social networks shape our lives and our work, and that we can learn how to identify, assess, and manage these networks.

This book is the first fully practical, actionable work on social network analysis in organizations. Cross and Parker are among a handful of professionals who have worked deeply in organizations to analyze existing social networks, position these networks within the context of the strategy, culture, and promise of organizations and recommend specific, positive steps that can alter the dynamics of the networks that exist.

For example, one of the themes explored is that of central connectors: people who, by virtue of their relationships with people in different organizations serve as boundary spanners (moving information and context from one group to another) or bottlenecks (impeding the flow of information and context). The authors develop the reader's understanding of this phenomenon by presenting the concepts of social network mapping, how the analysis of a network reveals the central connectors, the impact of these people on an organization, and, finally, the actions a manager can take to either (1) acknowledge and recognize these people or (2) shift the work patterns to alleviate the bottlenecks.

All the network maps in the book are from real cases - and they are universal as well. You'll not have a difficult time recognizing your own organization (or those you've worked with) in most of these examples. The "before and after" maps are illuminating and inspiring. The descriptions of the methodology are straightforward and useful. I'll say it again: this book is actionable, for both senior managers who want to understand and support networked organizational dynamics and for consultants (internal and external) who want a practical guidebook that establishes the standard for the practice of social network analysis.

Full disclosure: I am a practicing consultant who uses social network analysis in my work. When I first heard Rob Cross talk about social network analysis at an Institute for Knowledge Management workshop in Santa Fe four years ago, I knew that this was work that I needed to do in my organization. I had the good fortune to work with Rob and Andrew Parker on several projects, and to learn the method described in this book from them. I inherited, through their teaching and mentoring, the enthusiasm for bringing stunning insights to managers about their organizations as revealed in an analysis of their networks, and a strong sense of the ethics and responsibility in managing analysis projects. I've been waiting almost a year for this book to come out so that I can share it with my clients.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book for consultants, June 13, 2004

By	SciConnects (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews

There are many network books out there -- this is the only one that focuses on networks inside business organizations. Being a management consultant who has applied Social Network Analysis to organizational issues since 1987 this book mostly fits my experience.

This book is an excellent introduction for the internal or external consultant considering their first social network analysis project. Cross & Parker provide many examples, and discuss both network mapping and measuring. They focus on the network methods and metrics that are understandable by common business people -- no PhD required, an MBA will do fine.

Coming from a research organization, the authors don't always go into great deatil on how to apply network analysis in solving business problems. A couple of stories of before/after networks are shared. Yet, how they apply interventions and solutions is often glossed over. The last few chapters delve into this with more detail, but it may be too late in the book for some readers. Several of the the network examples could have used more details to provide the reader a better context of what was happening in the organization.

The Appendix is great -- how to get started in a social network analysis project. This section alone may be worth the price of the book for many hands-on consultants.

As business schools start to teach social network analysis, this book will make an excellent textbook for both undergraduate and MBA students.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Social network theory gains real traction in this how-to guide., February 15, 2007

By	D. Stuart "Researcher at Kudos" (Auckland NZ) - See all my reviews

In 1935 social network theory was created when an Italian born sociologist began drawing the now familiar network diagrams - laboriously constructed by hand but showing how employees related to each other within organizations. Today, softwares such as Ucinet are readily available and as a result social network analysis has moved onto the desktop and is available to all those who see its potential. here, Cross and Parker have wasted no time in stamping some ownership on the field by showing how and why social network studies within organizations should be conducted - and then how the results, those complex network diagrams can be diagnosed. They achieve a high standard here though they shy away from some of mathematical thinking that explains how the diagrams are derived: with only scant reference to terms like Betweenness, Centrality and Group Density which have become of the social network lexicon and, one would ahve thought, a useful toolset for the analysis of results. For this I mark them down one point - but overall the volume is rich in insight, clear in writing, and action-oriented: as much as anything it is a how-to guide, and HR professionals and market researchers would do well do reflect that the real dynamics within an organization do not follow the official organization chart but, rather, reflect the informal networks based on trust, knowledge and wisdom and developed by individuals as they navigate around what is usually a politically charged environment. Good insightful reading! I recommend this for researchers, HR professionals and managers.

On a broader front - here are two other books on social networks that are worth reading. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (Open Market Edition) Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks