Thursday, September 21, 2006
Social Network Analysis - The Need for Speed
Where does social network speed come from?
Connections. It can be a simple as knowing a 1-800 number or as complex as knowing how to frame an issue to get experts working on a solution fast. Many times the rules are subtle, unwritten, unspoken and unacknowleged. These connections provide the pathways to solutions.
In better days, the most cutting edge firms demanded, created and fostered the infrastructure to enable social network connections to flourish. Executives ignored the scorn of many entry-level employees for 'wasting' time on the golf course, because they knew that the social connections forged there were vital to the business process. The same need for strong social networks exists at the technical level as well.
Today, those same executives blindly destroy their social networks by racing around the world searching for ever-lower wages and progressively longer chains of subcontracted service providers. They seem to think that open-source, web enabled collaboration interfaces will be the whiz-bang gadget that replaces common cultures, shared languages, similar timezones and good old fashioned human interaction.
The results of globalizing operations without due diligence to the care and feeding of social networks tend to be declining customer service, slower response times and reduced innovation. All problems that are easy for an accountant to ignore, but devastating to a firms profitablity, sustainability and market share.
What have you done lately to build and/or strengthen your social networks?
Technorati Tags: KM, Social Networks
Connections. It can be a simple as knowing a 1-800 number or as complex as knowing how to frame an issue to get experts working on a solution fast. Many times the rules are subtle, unwritten, unspoken and unacknowleged. These connections provide the pathways to solutions.
In better days, the most cutting edge firms demanded, created and fostered the infrastructure to enable social network connections to flourish. Executives ignored the scorn of many entry-level employees for 'wasting' time on the golf course, because they knew that the social connections forged there were vital to the business process. The same need for strong social networks exists at the technical level as well.
Today, those same executives blindly destroy their social networks by racing around the world searching for ever-lower wages and progressively longer chains of subcontracted service providers. They seem to think that open-source, web enabled collaboration interfaces will be the whiz-bang gadget that replaces common cultures, shared languages, similar timezones and good old fashioned human interaction.
The results of globalizing operations without due diligence to the care and feeding of social networks tend to be declining customer service, slower response times and reduced innovation. All problems that are easy for an accountant to ignore, but devastating to a firms profitablity, sustainability and market share.
What have you done lately to build and/or strengthen your social networks?
Technorati Tags: KM, Social Networks
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