Hello,

I am planning something for Australia & possibly Asia in 2010 around SNA &
related disciplines. There will be one or more very low cost Bar Cap-style
events as well as more expensive, in-depth workshops with some of the luminaries
in the field. I'd like to talk to those with an interest so I can get the right
range of offerings. I just want your input at the moment - so be assured that by
responding, you are not opening yourself to any unpleasant "hard sell"
behaviour.

Cheers,

Matt

Patti - Thanks for the link on SNA and mgmt consulting. I had it in my 'Must
Read' folder and just got to it. Then I realized I posted the same link. Yikes!
My apologies to you and group. Cordially, John P.S. The authors asked that if
you share the paper, please use the link, not the PDF, since they are counting
the downloads...

--- In ona-prac@yahoogroups.com, "Patti Anklam" <patti@...> wrote:
>
> Research paper on social network analysis. Has very interesting observations
> about how closely linked SNA is with Knowledge Management (KM).
>
>
>
> /patti
>
>
>
> From: Roberto Dandi [mailto:rdandi@...]
> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:23 AM
> To: patti@...
> Subject: Social Network Analysis in management consulting
>
>
>
> Dear Patti,
>
>
>
> Thank you for answering our survey on SNA in management consulting
> companies. Preliminary results are presented here:
>
> Dandi, R. & Sammarra, A. (2009). Social Network Analysis: A New Perspective
> for the Post-Fordist Organization.
> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1460665
>
> We have developed 4 additional questions that we will use for another
> research paper on the research-practice link in Social Network Analysis.
>
> Could you please answer them as well? You can find them here:
> http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=TYptWvCeq4RwpqKgMpMOIA_3d_3d
> <http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Esurveymonkey%2Ecom%
> 2Fs%2Easpx%3Fsm%3DTYptWvCeq4RwpqKgMpMOIA_3d_3d&urlhash=jyJq&_t=mbox_mebc>
>
> I will update you with the results as soon as we have enough answers.
>
> Thanks
> Best,
> Roberto
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Roberto Dandi, PhD
>
> Luiss Guido Carli  <http://docenti.luiss.it/dandi>
>
>  <http://www.lbs.luiss.it/paesanita> Luiss Business School - Health Area
>
> Via Pola 12 - 00198 - Roma, Italy
> Tel: +39 0685222-356 (office) +39 3332421253 (mobile) Fax: +39 0685222-400
>  <http://robertodandi.googlepages.com> Personal website
>

Hi -

See:

http://bit.ly/1qbhqX

-j



John Maloney
The Future of Networks
Mail: http://1id.com/contact/=jheuristic
Web: http://www.futureofnetworks.com
Blog: http://networksingularity.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jheuristic
Tel:  415.902.9676
Fax: 415.276.6074
Skype: jheuristic

Hi all,

We have just put online a simple guide to Netdraw. We have been using it for SNA
training programs. Hope you find if useful - it is available via the ONA Surveys
help section -
http://wiki.onasurveys.com/index.php/Main_Page#Importing_data_into_visualization\
_software


Comments or suggestions for additional material would be much appreciated.

Kind regards

Cai Kjaer
Optimice / ONA Surveys

Hi –

"Now big-picture thinkers, within the industry and outside it, are re-examining
every stage of drug development — from molecule to market — in an effort to
foster faster innovation. It's a holistic approach, called "systems thinking,"
that originated in methods that engineers used to streamline projects in the
aeronautics and automotive industries."

It's about friggin time!

See: http://bit.ly/1UQg1U


Cheers,

-j

Hi, I recently joined this group, and am looking for advice from SNA experts on
a challenge we have on the RSA's Connected Communities project.

Given that there are no independent variables in SNA, when you do not have a
naturally bounded sample, on what basis do you decide on a sample size?

Most forms of SNA involve organisations or other bounded samples, but we are
trying to understand social networks in a deprived geographic area of south east
London which has a fairly transitory population. We don't have the research
capacity to ask every resident in the area, and don't currently know how many
people we need to interview to get meaningful data for an edifying social
network analysis.

Any ideas?

For more detail on the project context see below:

Thanks,

Jonathan

Dr Jonathan Rowson
RSA Projects
8 John Adam Street
London WC2N 6EZ
0207 451 6872
www.theRSA.org.uk

###

The RSA has three years of funding from the department of communities and local
government(CLG) to investigate new forms of community regeneration, and the
first year of the project involves a multi-method measurement of existing levels
of social capital in a couple of specific areas. Our main concern is to
highlight patterns of exclusion and better understand how to mobilise untapped
community resources.

Part of the plan was to do some form of social network analysis in New Cross
Gate in South East London, which is multiply deprived and about to come to the
end of a ten year (New Deal for Communities) funding cycle concerned with `area
based initiatives'- the boundary for the area is pretty arbitrary. Our premise
is that community regeneration requires functional social networks, and that
part of making social networks functional is making them visible- there is some
evidence that getting people to visualise, and ideally map their own community
connections can itself increase social capital. If everything falls into place,
there would be a double win in terms of research process and outcome, and the
potential for more cost-effective interventions.

The challenge is the method. We have a research tool, designed to capture the
data needed for the SNA (e.g. we get personal survey data and ask questions
like: Is there someone you know and could approach for help who…works for a
community organisation, for the local council, has a role on a tenants
association, is a neighbourhood warden, has good contacts with local newspaper,
radio or tv etc). So far, we have done about 70 interviews, trying to do a form
of snowballing, but with limited success. It is possible the connections we are
seeking to uncover are just not there, and there is nothing wrong with the
method, but other fieldwork makes us think that is unlikely.

Part of the problem is that approaching people door to door makes them hesitant
to name names, and there is some evidence that people do not recall their
interactions very well, so the data may not capture the network we are trying to
uncover. We can tweak the research tool and improve our data collection methods
in various ways, but a more pressing concern is sample size. For conventional
survey data, you typically need around 400 people to get a representative
sample, but in SNA there are no independent variables, so I don't think this
number transfers. I think we might have to settle for a series of ego-centric
networks with alter connections, and use these as illustrative rather than
representative. This approach could still be useful to us because we can track
how these maps change in years two and three, but perhaps there is some other
way to get a more representative sample of the community?

We don't have the research capacity to do a comprehensive survey of the whole
New Cross Gate area, but we have tentative plans to focus on one particular area
where there is an intersection of a middle class community (Telegraph Hill) and
a relatively deprived neighbourhood(Somerville) and perhaps we can learn
something about the degree of connectivity between these areas, and how it could
be improved (Bridging capital).

So this is roughly where we. Plan A at the moment is to tweak the research tool,
complete a total of roughly 400 interviews before the end of the year, and the
try to join the dots. This feels wrong to me, mainly because the 400 number
currently seems meaningless. Any thoughts on how best to proceed, or arrange a
conversation with someone who might know, would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jonathan.

We don't normally do mail outs like this, but with our re-launch of the Web site
being such a significant event for us, we wanted to share it with you all. It is
now 3 years since we launched www.optimice.com.au and it has continuously grown
in popularity over that time. We have made freely available some 40 papers,
presentations and videos, something we intend to continue.

The most significant change is the incorporation of Web 2.0 functionality
through our "Friends of Optimice" feature. We aim to now not only be a
publishing site, but to also help our readers connect with each other. By
answering a simple survey you can see how your profile fits with other readers
on a dynamically changing social network map. If you want to make yourself
available for contact with fellow readers simply join our "Friend of Optimice"
LinkedIn group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1807808&trk=hb_side_g

We haven't forgotten the publishing side. We have two new white papers:

"The Tyranny of Top Down: Learning to Manage Sideways" which provides evidence
through case studies as to how limiting top down management can be and offers 10
tips for managing sideways.

"Departments @ War" uses organisational network analysis to identify trust (and
mistrust) networks across organisations and shows how value networks can be used
to help build trust.

Finally, we are launching our new Visual Markets market research service with a
major report which overviews the methods and provides a detailed analysis of the
Australasian IT&T market. The report will be available for purchase in November
but you can get free chapters from the pre-release here.

We look forward to meeting you in Friends of Optimice!

Thought fans of SNA/ONA might enjoy this...

Posted this last night... an interactive network map of the cocoon of
lobbyists around the Gang of Six Senators working on health care reform.

http://orgnet.com/lobbying.html

Valdis

laurence;

Neat idea and it sounds like a visual way to do something like Open Space Technology...

Nat

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Lock Lee
Sent: Aug 16, 2009 7:36 PM
To: ona-prac@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ona-prac] How would you use ONA in this situation?

 

Hi Patti … I got an idea from Richard McDermott many years ago around doing a “live SNA”. The idea is you get people to nominate important topics of interest, select a few (depending on the size of the group) and then in a large space get the nominators to stand equidistant apart (like poles) and then have the rest of the people place themselves physically close to the poles of greatest interest. When they have divided interest they stand part way … so what you end up with is a spatially developed live affinity network. Richard warned that there is always at least one pole left without any “friends” so you give that person a chance to state their case for why their topic is important. The group can re-arrange based on this if they so desire.

I’ve done this a few time now and its always fun. I like the way that the “lonely” pole always seems to happen and they always speak passionately about their topic. I also respond to those who invariably have trouble locating themselves amongst all these competing interests is that they are simply experiencing what happens in real life! We often make commitments to support communities that in the end we can’t do justice to. Some will fade through lack of a core group and others will thrive because of the depth of interest. It’s a great conversation starter and start to a “new” organisation.

rgds

Laurence Lock Lee PhD

Partner, Optimice Pty Ltd

Ph: +61 (0)407001628

www.optimice.com.au

Blog: http://governanceandnetworks.blogspot.com/

Learn to network, then network to learn

From: ona-prac@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ona-prac@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Patti Anklam
Sent: Sunday, 16 August 2009 11:35 PM
To: ona-prac@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ona-prac] How would you use ONA in this situation?

 

Hi,

I am subscribed to OD questions on LinkedIn. This question came up two days ago:

Icebreaker ideas? I recently was asked to take on a statewide management role, after managing a region for three years. Just this week, the company itself went through a painful staff reduction (thus resulting in my new role). Tomorrow, I will meet with staff from one of my new regions for the first time. They all know each other well, and know me a little. I'd like to start the meeting with an icebreaker to get to know them a little better (and them, me), but don't want it to feel too hokey, nor do I want it to take a long time. Any suggestions for something light?

I dashed off this response:

I never thought about using a network analysis in a situation like this, but it might be interesting. What happens in a downsizing is that the network loses a number of "nodes," that is, links are broken. It might be interesting to draw the network (depending on the number of people) of the group -- who works with who most frequently. Maybe include the people who've left and see what happens to the network when these people are taken out.

You could also look at the outside connections that are lost -- the people who are gone may have had valuable contacts they were able to access for specific needs. Perhaps brainstorm about how the new group is going to make sure that it can develop its network to replace the people who are missing.

Anyone else have thoughts?  Have you managed this kind of situation using simple mapping exercises?

/patti

Patti Anklam

Net Work: Leveraging Content, Knowledge and Networks

Harvard, MA 01451

+1(978)456-4175

----- Original Message -----

From: Patti Anklam

To: ona-prac@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 6:34 AM

Subject: [ona-prac] How would you use ONA in this situation?

 

Hi,

I am subscribed to OD questions on LinkedIn. This question came up two days ago:

Icebreaker ideas? I recently was asked to take on a statewide management role, after managing a region for three years. Just this week, the company itself went through a painful staff reduction (thus resulting in my new role). Tomorrow, I will meet with staff from one of my new regions for the first time. They all know each other well, and know me a little. I'd like to start the meeting with an icebreaker to get to know them a little better (and them, me), but don't want it to feel too hokey, nor do I want it to take a long time. Any suggestions for something light?

I dashed off this response:

I never thought about using a network analysis in a situation like this, but it might be interesting. What happens in a downsizing is that the network loses a number of "nodes," that is, links are broken. It might be interesting to draw the network (depending on the number of people) of the group -- who works with who most frequently. Maybe include the people who've left and see what happens to the network when these people are taken out.

You could also look at the outside connections that are lost -- the people who are gone may have had valuable contacts they were able to access for specific needs. Perhaps brainstorm about how the new group is going to make sure that it can develop its network to replace the people who are missing.

Anyone else have thoughts?  Have you managed this kind of situation using simple mapping exercises?

/patti

Patti Anklam

Net Work: Leveraging Content, Knowledge and Networks

Harvard, MA 01451

+1(978)456-4175

Tuesday 28 July: Departments @ War – Peacemaking through Value Networks and
the Partnership Scorecard
11 July, 2009

WHAT

If you have never had issues with other departments in your organisation, just
love your outsourced IT, HR or finance services or if all inter-organisationa l
problems are always promptly solved by your boss, then this session is not for
you!

For those of you that have experienced some business relationship friction this
session will provide you with an approach to resolution. The approach uses value
network analysis and a partnership scorecard to help articulate the value flows
and accountabilities between roles in a partnership and then uses a partnership
scorecard to monitor negotiated peer to peer accountabilities. The approach has
been used for smoothing over rough outsourcing relationships, brokering peace
between warring departments but also as a pro-active means for stakeholder
management. We often refer to our approach as “sideways” management, in
contrast to “top-down” management. This is a HANDS-ON session, everyone
participates and learns.

WHO

Laurie Lock Lee is a well-known Australian expert in Knowledge Management. He is
also one of Australia’s leading practitioners in Social Network Analysis for
organisational change. With many years of experience in different roles ranging
from research to consulting, Laurie recently completed his PhD research on
corporate social capital effects on share market performance. He was previously
a Principal Consultant with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Cai Kjaer has
been involved in Knowledge Management, Collaboration and Organisational Change
for the past 9 years in both internal and client-facing roles with one of the
largest IT Services companies in the world. He has consulted extensively to
organisations in both public and private sector, as well as presented
conferences in Australia and abroad. Cai was previously a Principal Consultant
with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Both are now partners at Optimice.

WHAT NEXT? If you plan to attend please RSVP before noon Monday July 27 by
e-mail to: nswkmforum<at>gmail.com (hint: replace the <at> with a normal @ to
complete the email address and please include the date and/or title of the event
in the subject line).

WHERE

PricewaterhouseCoopers
Darling Park
201 Sussex Street

Enter from Druitt Street, go up the escalators and up the hall. Continue through
the foyer until you see the PwC security desk through the doors on your left
hand side. Please note: You will need to get a security pass from the security
desk in the PwC Foyer, then proceed to main reception on Level 10 and tell
reception you are here for the NSW KM forum.

WHEN: 5.30pm for 6pm, Tuesday 28 July.

HOW MUCH: Gold coin donation.

I have recently had published by IGI Global the above book. It is a mix of
academic research and consulting practice (though unfortunately priced for the
academic market ... sorry). I take a social capital/networking perspective of
governance (in contrast to the regular compliance approaches). You can get get
the a full synopsis from here: www.optimice.com.au

Apologies for cross posting....

I just posted some photos and video of an affinity mapping exercise we conducted
for registrants at the International forum for Entperprise 2.0 held in Milan
earlier this month. Basically we run a short survey and then map affinites
around their ranked interests. We have done this several times now and find it
is an excellent icebreaker for attendees to start to get to know each other.
Everyone likes to see where they ended up on the map!

Have a look ... www.optimice.com.au

btw.... video presentations from the forum are also available on-line

----- Original Message -----

From: Patti Anklam

To: ona-prac@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:27 AM

Subject: [ona-prac] FW: Diagnosing Your Social Network's Health

Here’s another great resource for testing network health. (And if you are a network-builder and not just an analyst, and you haven’t read Net Gains, you really should do so!)

Best,

/patti

From: Greg Berry [mailto:greg@nuanceintelligence.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 5:03 PM
To: patti@byeday.net
Subject: Diagnosing Your Social Network's Health

Hello,

The team that brought you Net Gains: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change has developed a new tool for assessing your network’s health.

As we've designed networks and coached network builders, the question always comes up: How can we know how the network is doing? In some ways, the answer is complicated. There are different types of networks and networks evolve through different stages--factors that should be taken into account. But it's also true that some things about networks hold for any network at any stage of life.

We've developed this Network Health Scorecard working with colleagues at Cause Communications, and testing ideas with networks that include Rural People Rural Policy, an initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. With just 22 questions and a 1-5 scoring system, it focuses on key aspects of any network: purpose, performance, operations, and capacity. It's designed for group use--network members answer each question and then discuss their answers--or on your own.

Please read about it, test it out and share your feedback at the website to let us know how it worked for you so we can improve this tool for network builders.

Madeleine Taylor and Peter Plastrik

from Valdis on SOCNET via John Maloney:

http://is.gd/CnJQ


/patti

Hi all,

At the link below you will find a short online survey (few minutes to fill in)
targeted to those companies already offering management consulting services
based on Social Network Analysis.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pXoYqd19uazE6v019o0ZWw_3d_3d

This is part of a research project devoted to analyze the uses of SNA in
organizational settings.

Thanks for helping out
Best,

Roberto Dandi
rdandi@...
LUISS University
Rome, Italy