Analysis of Informal Communication Networks – A Case Study

Abstract

It is becoming more and more important for knowledge workers to increase their productivity. However, there is a general lack of (semi-)automated, IT-supported data collection and evaluation approaches that allow insights into the processes and structures of an enterprise's internal networks and the activities of its knowledge workers. The article presents a prototype of an IT-supported instrument ("Social Badges") that supports automatic collection of informal, personal interaction between (knowledge) workers within an enterprise. The authors' aim is to introduce a novel approach which improves data quality over legacy methods. The approach uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to make it easier for executives to analyze and manage informal communications networks. Its practical applicability is demonstrated by a case study. IntroductionIf the formal organization is the skeleton of a company, the informal is the central nervous system driving the collective thought processes, actions, and reactions of its business units.( Krackhardt and Hanson 1993, p. 104) Both the volume and importance of knowledge workers are growing as industrialized countries go through structural changes towards service-oriented societies (Albach 1999;Drucker 1999;Davenport 2005). According to Apte and Nath (2007), knowledge workers already account for 70 % of the labor force in the USA and for more than 60 % of its added value. Despite the importance of knowledgeintensive work, little is known about how to improve it compared to manual work processes. This is because the work performed by knowledge workers is complex and hard to measure (Aral et al. 2006; Mangelsdorf 2008; Ramírez and Nembhard 2004). It can be assumed that the way information is exchanged and distributed will have an influence on the relative productivity of groups and actors (Aral et al. 2006;Cross et al. 2003). The modern enterprise's productivity, efficiency and the ability to innovate thus all require an efficient structure and culture with respect to the exchange of knowledge between employees ( Knowledge is mainly exchange via informal, social communication networks whose structures often differ greatly from the enterprise's organizational structure and workflows (Krackhardt and Hanson 1993). At the same time, these structures have a decisive influence on the ability of employees, workgroups and the whole enterprise to deliver superior performance as they determine how quickly information can be propagated across a network, or whether stake holding employees will be able to contact each other (Cross and Parker 2004). In this context Cross et al. (2003, p. 8) emphasize that "one of the most consistent findings in the social science literature is that whom you know often has a great deal to do with what you come to know".Within this context the management of informal communication networks between enterprise staff becomes strategically significant (Davenport and Prusak 1998;Cross et al. 2003;Berglind and Scales 1987). Knowledge management focuses on those parts o...

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“…arguing and sighing). In regards to investigating sociability at workplace, the study in [40] focuses on productivity and its relation to informal social networks at workplace. The approach was based on using the Social Badge developed by MIT Media Lab, capable of monitoring the geographic position (Bluetooth), direction of movement and speed (tri-axial accelerometer), interaction (infrared sensor) and mood (microphone and speech analysis).…”

“…Using data from various sensors, Olguin et al [39] measured and modeled organizational behavior at the individual and group levels. Fishbah et al [40] employed the social badge, developed by MIT lab, to analyse informal social networks in companies aiming to increase employees' productivity. RFID-based indoor localization system enabled Kearns et al [41] to correlate the moving patterns and the degree of cognitive impairment which is a foundation for the preventative system that can detect early stages of dementia.…”

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“…Whenever the planner says there is no plan for all the preconditions in the goal, the planner will be invoked with each precondition separately. In the screen-shot to the right you can see state of the common ground KB from turns (37) to (40). In our example, this results in Frolog saying the dragon is not alive in turn (31).…”

“…The technology provides more objective and precise insight into domains that are difficult or even impossible to be monitored by a human observer. Fishbah et al [40] employed the social badge, developed by MIT lab, to analyse informal social networks in companies aiming to increase employees' productivity. A number of examples of using technology to measure new sociomedical phenomena can be found in the literature including Hasler et al [26] that used automatic sound analysis to detect sinusoidal 24h rhythms in activities associated with positive affects.…”

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