Steve Borgatti
MB 814 Fall 2004 Schedule

Legend

Assignments are due on the day they are listed (except for the very first class -- those readings should be read immediately after class). All items subject to change without notice. Please check the schedule frequently. Before printing articles, try reading them online. Is all that ink and toner really necessary?

Most of the links for journal articles require you to be logged in via your BC id in order to recognize you as legitimate members of the community. Click here for more infromation. The notation "K&T" is used to refer to the Kilduff & Tsai text book. For example, "K&T 1,2" refers to chapters 1 and 2 of that book. .

Readings marked [HBSP] must be purchased from Harvard by clicking on the link. To download articles directly, you must also download the SealedMedia reader from Harvard site. Note: the sealedmedia thing doesn't work very well. It is a pain. You may prefer to have them mail you a paper copy.

Shortcuts

14-Sep Introduction
21-Sep Organization as Network
28-Sep Power
5-Oct Influence
12-Oct Leadership
19-Oct Social Cognition
26-Oct Culture & Knowledge
2-Nov Innovation
9-Nov Competitive Advantage
16-Nov Careers
23-Nov Organizational Change
30-Nov Wrap-Up
7-Dec Presentations

 

14 Sept.  Introduction

In class:
  • Course overview
  • Introduction to network thinking
Lab:
  • Demonstration of UCINET/NETDRAW software tool
Reading:
  • K&T 1,2
Slides:
Optional:

 

21 Sept.  Organization as Network
In class:
  • Elementary graph theory concepts (e.g., path)
  • Adhocracies, bureaucracies, and network organizations
  • Kinds of relations
  • Sources of data
Lab:
  • Importing data into UCINET
Reading:
  • Krackhardt, D. & Hanson, J. 1993. Informal networks: the company behind the chart. Harvard Business Review. [^pdf] [scan]
  • Krebs. Managing the connected organization. [html]
  • Cross, R., Borgatti, S.P. & Parker, A., 2002. Making Invisible Work Visible: Using Social Network Analysis to Support Strategic Collaboration. California Management Review. 44(2): 25-46. [PDF]
  • Borgatti, S.P. and Molina, J-L. 2003. Ethical and strategic issues in organizational network analysis. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 39(3): 337-350. [pdf]
Due:
  • Play the Kevin Bacon Game!  It's fun (in an addictive, frustrating, sort of way).
Slides:
Optional:
  • Scientific management [html];  Taylor [html]
  • Bureaucracy [html]
  • Baker, W.E. 1994. Networking Smart. NY: McGraw Hill. Ch 3: Building intelligence networks.
  • Tichy, N. M., M. L. Tushman, and C. Fombrun, "Social Network Analysis for Organizations", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1979, pp. 507-519 [^pdf]
  • Assess your social capital online ($95)

 

28 Sept.  Power
In class:
Lab:
  • Symmetrizing & dichotomizing
  • Running centrality measures
Reading:
Due:
Slides:
Optional:

 

5 Oct.  Influence
In class:
  • Indirect influence through 3rd parties
  • Influence measures
  • Calculating social capital as sum of social resources
Reading:
Due:
Lab:
  • Powering up a matrix
Optional:
  • Machiavelli, N. 1505. The Prince. Columbia. [full text]
  • Handout on centrality measures -- scroll to Katz measure [html]
  • Katz L (1953). 'A new status index derived from sociometric data analysis'. Psychometrika, 18, 34-43.
  • Hubbell C H (1965). 'An input-output approach to clique identification'. Sociometry, 28, 377-399.

 

12 Oct.  Leadership
In class:
  • Mobilizing people to make things happen
  • Building networks
  • Leadership and change / agency
  • Distinguishing leadership and power, leaders and managers
  • Eigenvector theory of leadership
Lab:
  • Cohesion
  • Subgroups
Reading:
  • Jan Carlzon (A) and (B)
  • Kotter. What leaders really do. [HBSP]
  • Process and structure in leader-member exchange. By: Sparrowe, Raymond T.; Liden, Robert C. Academy of Management Review, Apr97, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p522, 31p [^pdf]
Due:
Slides:
Optional:
  • Brass, D.J. & Krackhardt, D. 1999. The social capital of 21st century leaders. In J.G. Hunt, G.E. Dodge, & L. Wong (Eds.), Out-of-the-box leadership, 179-194. Stamford, CT: JAI Press. [pdf]
  • Van Maanen, J. The Smile Factory. [pdf]

 

19 Oct.  Culture & Knowledge
In class:
  • How culture is created and transmitted
  • Communities of practice
  • Transactional knowledge systems
Lab:
  • Correlating matrices
Reading:
  • Borgatti, S.P. and Cross, R. 2003. A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks. Management Science. 49(4): 432-445.[pdf]

  • Wenger. Communities of Practice 1998. Claims Processing Vignette. [html]

  • Hollingshead & Brandon 2003. Potential benefits of communication in transactive memory systems. Human Communication Research 29:607-615 [^pdf]
  • Boster, JS 1986. Exchange of Varieties and Information between Aguaruna Manioc Cultivators. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 88, No. 2. (Jun., 1986), pp. 428-436 [^pdf[
Slides:
Optional:

  • Borgatti, S.P. 2005. Centrality and Network Flow. Submitted to Social Networks. [pdf]

  • Wegner, D., Giuliano, T., & Hertel, P. (1985).  Cognitive Interdependence in Close Relationships. In W. Ickes (Ed.) Compatible and Incompatible Relationships pp. 253-276 New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

  • Moreland, R. 1999. Transactive memory: Learning who knows what in work groups and organizations. Pp. 3-31 in Thompson, Levine & Messick, Shared Cognition in Organizations: The management of knowledge. Lawrence Erlbaum.

There's a series of talks at Harvard this Fall on networks & complexity (actually, it's all year and has been going on for years). In particular Jeff Johnson (Monday, Oct 25) is a great speaker and we will be reading his work in this class. I recommend going to his talk.  The schedule is here.

26 Oct.  Social Cognition
Guest speaker:
In class:
  • Consequences of knowing/not-knowing the network
  • Individual variation in network perception
Reading:
  • Johnson, Jeff, and Orbach, M. 2002. Perceiving the political landscape. Social Networks 24 (2002) 291–310 [pdf]
  • Krackhardt, D. 1990. Assessing the political landscape: Structure, cognition, and power in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35: 342-369. [pdf]
  • Krackhardt, David. 1992 "The Strength of Strong Ties: The Importance of Philos in Organizations." In N. Nohria & R. Eccles (eds.), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form, and Action: 216-239. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. [pdf]
  • K&T 4
Lab:
  • Aggregating matrices
  • Krackhardt Silicon valley data
Optional:

 

2 Nov.  Creativity & Innovation
In class:
  • Network structures that promote innovation
  • Individual creativity
Reading:
  • Burt, R. 2003. The social origin of ideas. [PDF]
  • J.G. March, Explorations and Exploitation in organizational learning, Organization Science, 2, 1991. [EBSCO - must log in from bc or via vpn]
  • Powell,W.W.,Koput, K.W.,&Smith-Doerr,L. 1996. Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1): 116–145. [link to pdf - requires bc login]
  • Granovetter, M. (1973), "The Strength of Weak Ties," American Journal of Sociology, 78 (6): 1360-1380 [jstor]
Slides:
Optional:
  • Amabile, T. 1998.  How to kill creativity.  [HBSP]

 

9 Nov.  Competitive Advantage
In class:
  • Advantages of inter-organizational linkages
  • Social capital
Reading:
  • Uzzi, 1996.The sources and consequences of embeddedness... American Sociological Review. [PDF]  Concentrate on the anecdotes (pp. 679-682).
  • Jones, C., Hesterly, W. S., & Borgatti, S. P. 1997. A general theory of network governance: Exchange conditions and social mechanisms. Academy of Management Review, 22(4): 911‑945. [pdf]
  • Krackhardt, D. & Stern, R.1988. Informal networks and organizational crises. Social Psychology Quarterly 51(2): 123-140.  [PDF]
Slides:  
Due:  
Optional:
  • Uzzi, B. (1997). Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: The paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42: 35-67. [link to PDF]
  • Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91: 481-510. [link to PDF]

 

16 Nov. Career Advantage
In class:
  • Social capital
Reading:

  • Burt, R. The social structure of social capital. [pdf]

  • Portes & Sensenbrenner.1993.  Embeddedness and Immigration: Notes on the Social Determinants of Economic Action. American Journal of Sociology Vol. 98 Issue 6, p1320, 31p [^pdf]

  • Borgatti, S.P. Unpacking redundancy.  [html]

  • Burt, R. 1998. The Gender of Social Capital, Rationality and Society  [pdf]
Slides:
Optional:

 

23 Nov.  Organizational Change
In class:
  • How is planned organizational change affected by networks?
  • How does network analysis facilitate organizational change?
Reading:
  • Borgatti & Molina [pdf]
  • McGrath & Krackhardt. 2004. Network conditions for organizational change. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. [doc] [pdf]
  • Borgatti, S.P. Identifying sets of key players in a network. Computational, Mathematical and Organizational Theory. [pdf]
  • Krackhardt. Viscosity models and the diffusion of innovation. (skim) [pdf]
  • K&T 5
Optional:
  • Stevenson, W. S., Bartunek, J. M., and Borgatti, S. P. 2003. Front and backstage processes of an organizational restructuring effort. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 39(3): 243-259 [pdf]
  • Cross, Walsh & Borgatti. SNA & Org Change. [pdf]
  • Cross & Borgatti. Change. [pdf]

 

30 Nov.  Putting it all Together
In class:
  • Course review
  • Key issues in the application of network analysis in management
  • Future research
Reading:

  • Borgatti, S.P. and Foster, P. 2003. The network paradigm in organizational research:  A review and typology. Journal of Management. 29(6): 991-1013 [pdf]

  • K&T 6,7

 

7 Dec.  Presentations
In class:
Due:
Optional:  

 

Copyright ©2004 Stephen P. Borgatti Revised: May 05, 2005 Home Page