Leadership in complex networks: the importance of network position and strategic action in a translational cancer research network

Abstract

Background: Leadership behaviour in complex networks is under-researched, and little has been written concerning leadership of translational research networks (TRNs) that take discoveries made 'at the bench' and translate them into practices used 'at the bedside.' Understanding leaders' opportunities and behaviours within TRNs working to solve this key problem in implementing evidence into clinical practice is therefore important. This study explored the network position of governing body members and perceptions of their role in a new TRN in Sydney, Australia. The paper asks three questions: Firstly, do the formal, mandated leaders of this TRN hold key positions of centrality or brokerage in the informal social network of collaborative ties? Secondly, if so, do they recognise the leadership opportunities that their network positions afford them? Thirdly, what activities associated with these key roles do they believe will maximise the TRN's success? Methods: Semi-structured interviews of all 14 governing body members conducted in early 2012 explored perceptions of their roles and sought comments on a list of activities drawn from review of successful transdisciplinary collaboratives combined with central and brokerage roles. An on-line, whole network survey of all 68 TRN members sought to understand and map existing collaborative connections. Leaders' positions in the network were assessed using UCInet, and graphs were generated in NetDraw. Results: Social network analysis identified that governing body members had high centrality and high brokerage potential in the informal network of work-related ties. Interviews showed perceived challenges including 'silos' and the mismatch between academic and clinical goals of research. Governing body members recognised their central positions, which would facilitate the leadership roles of leading, making decisions, and providing expert advice necessary for the co-ordination of effort and relevant input across domains. Brokerage potential was recognised in their clearly understood role of representing a specialty, campus or research group on the governing body to provide strategic linkages. Facilitation, mentoring and resolving conflicts within more localised project teams were spoken of as something 'we do all the time anyway,' as well as something they would do if called upon. These leadership roles are all linked with successful collaborative endeavours in other fields. Conclusions: This paper links the empirical findings of the social network analysis with the qualitative findings of the interviews to show that the leaders' perceptions of their roles accord with both the potential inherent in their network positions as well as actual activities known to increase the success of transdisciplinary teams. Understanding this is key to successful TRNs.

Leadership networks in Catholic parishes: Implications for implementation research in health

“…The implementation of EBIs in FBOs is often dependent on program champions, whose behaviors and actions hinge not only on their position within the formal and informal leadership networks, but also their ability to act as influential opinion leaders for the adoption of programs (Valente, 2012). Such leaders are more central to the network structure of the organization, interact with more members on average than other members do, and often act as linkages between members who do not know each other (Long et al, 2013). These individuals provide great potential for the dissemination of health messages (Valente, 1996).…”

Defining and evaluating transdisciplinary research: implications for aging and technology

“…The majority of articles defined TDR with direct citations or adaptations of Rosenfeld's [12] original definition [22,23,24,25,26].…”

“…Identified barriers may be exacerbated by the current academic reward mechanisms and modes of working (e.g. expectations of uni-disciplinary training, focus of research versus expected focus in the field, number of products produced, competition vs. sharing of credit) that can make TDR appear professionally 'risky' or challenging [26,27,33,34,36,38,39]. However, given that there is also evidence that TDR may have a beneficial impact on advancing career trajectories [27], more research is needed to determine the extent to which this is a perceived barrier or an actual one.…”

Understanding the perceptions, roles and interactions of stakeholder networks managing health-care waste: A case study of the Gaza Strip

“…All the data are freely shared with all the other stakeholders MoH HCFs), the strengths of each tie was the mean of those attributed by these interviewees, thus some calculations resulted in decimal numbers. Social networks were graphically represented with the use of UCINET (Borgatti et al, 2002), a well-know and regularly used software (Long et al, 2013). Priorities declared were aggregated in two ways, namely: (i) with the calculation of the arithmetic mean of all the scores attributed, and (ii) counting how many times the highest priority was attributed to each step.…”