Social networks and competitive intelligence

There is a virtual consensus among competitive intelligence experts about the need to widely spread the responsibility for gathering information and finding significant patterns. Competitive intelligence in an organization is viewed as a responsibility and an opportunity for managers, salespeople, engineers, technicians and so on. In fact one of the most common activities taken on by competitive or business intelligence areas is training various groups of employees on skills and attitudes that help to advance the organization's intelligence.
The adoption of a social network perspective has potential for greatly enhancing these efforts. Information and meaning flow through networks of relationships. Robust and healthy internal networks can speed up and improve the gathering of information and meaning. Moreover, they are a prerequisite for the effective use of the collected intelligence. Information, data and analysis stored in databases or spread through presentations and reports tend to have a weaker impact in comparison to those flowing through networks of trusting relationships.
On the external front, building networks is vital for the collection of information that is neither public nor available from secondary sources. These flows of information are essential to sensing and identifying weak signals of change.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that building internal and external social networks that are healthy and carefully woven should be among the top priorities for managers in charge of business and competitive intelligence.

Is personal initiative contagious in social networks?

Personal initiative is an increasingly important attribute in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of conditions and situations. Corporate cultures infused by initiative will likely make corporations more successful and sustainable. Fay and Frese (2001) defined personal Initiative as “...work behavior characterized by its self-starting nature, its proactive approach, and by being persistent in overcoming difficulties that arise in the pursuit of a goal.“ The definition implies initiative as a personal trait or attribute.

A growing body of research has shown that traits and attibutes seemingly similar to personal initiative can actually spread in networks of relationships. 

Emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions say the authors of a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Social networks and altruism are deeply interconnected. Research by Christakis and Fowler demonstrates that kind acts flow across social ties and social ties provide the substrate for inter-personal altruism. The researchers also showed that people exhibit “flocking behavior” when it comes to things such as drinking, smoking and overeating. Sarah Monley argues that in the corporate environment good health can be contagious as well. A recent study by StayWell Health Management found that wellness champions can influence the outcomes of employee health management programs.  Susan Liautaud has researched on how unethical behavior is contagious within organizations and teams, within industries and sectors, and across sectors. Research by Falk and Ichino (2006), Mas and Moretti (2009), Bandiera et al. (2010), and De Grip and Sauermann (2012) present growing evidence that worker productivity may actually be quite contagious. Even the concept of entrepreneurship, a seemingly perfect example of bold individualism and do-it-yourself behavior, is being tested for its social network embeddedness: Linda Rottenberg and Chris Bierly argue that the best incubator for entrepreneurship occurs when entrepreneurs form close networks and nurture fellow risk-takers with their experience and resources.

Can the same be true for personal initiative? And if that is the case, how should an organization proceed to strengthen its culture of initiative?

Visualização da redes complexas

Martin Krzywinski do Centro de Ciências do Genoma em Vancouver desenvolveu e oferece uma nova ferramenta para visualização de redes altamente complexas. A análise de redes sociais apóia-se em algoritmos para descrição e compreensão de papéis e características de grupos. Mas a análise visual é capaz de produzir insights além dos números. A ferramenta desenvolvida por Krzywinski eleva essa possibilidade a um novo patamar. Além de produzir imagens espetaculares!

Como fazer redes organizacionais realmente funcionarem

Artigo publicado em Sloan Management Review aprofunda a compreensão de como construir organizações mais colaborativas e inovadoras. Executivos devem analisar as redes de colaboração dos membros da organização para descobrir os padrões de conexão de equipes e indivíduos de alto desempenho. A partir daí, redes podem ser redesenhadas para otimizar o fluxo de boas idéias entre áreas, especialidades técnicas e geografias. A análise de redes sociais também pode revelar onde o excesso de conectividade pode tornar o processo decisório mais lento.

Performance em equipes

O consultor Joshua Letourneau propõe uma nova forma de medir performance de indivíduos em organizações baseada na contribuição para a equipe em vez de realizações individuais. A análise de redes sociais é uma ferramenta essencial nesse sentido. Letourneau demontrou essa possibilidade analisando o padrão de passes dados por jogadores em partidas da Copa do Mundo. Os gráficos acima demontram como a seleção da Espanha teve desempenho superior ao dos adversários nessa dimensão. O que certamente ajuda a explicar seu sucesso na competição.