I am writing to offer a perspective and a tool that may be of
help/interest re: Ruediger's request and knowledge management threads in
general. The underlying premise of this perspective is that knowledge is a
social construction, and, therefore, knowledge management is a function of
social structure.The tool is called Social Network Analysis. It involves
data gathered from survey questions that are plugged into a software
package that generates scores and graphs re: various system/strucural
dimensions. In effect, a map of the social structure is produced. For
example a "reach' score is obtained which measures the extent to which an
actor is close to, or can easily reach all other actors in the network.
Theoretically, a social structure configuration or map could be derived
that suits various organizational objectives, e.g., behaving like a
learning community or optimizing knowledge. The maps that are derived
could seve as blueprints for change initiatives around developing the
network structure.
I have the software and am interested in testing its usefulness.The whole
concept is an outgrowth of sociometry which has been a clinical interest
of mine for some time.Some interesting research has been published, e.g.,
Krackhardt and Hanson's article in HBR, 1993, pp. 104-111. The network
apsect is very appealing as there are clear links to chaos theory,
especially @ self organization dynamics. I think its intriguing to think
of actually measuring the way a system operates as it does its work from a
social transaction and strucural perspective.
If anyone is interested in testing out the application of this tool in an
organization, I'd be happy to conduct an analysis for them. This would be
a kind of joint learning project.
Rich DiNapoli 603-778-6000
dinapoli@nh.ultranet.com
--dinapoli <dinapoli@nh.ultranet.com>
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